While its AVE high-speed trains, built by Talgo, already run between Lyon and Barcelona as well as from Marseille to Madrid, Renfe has been unsuccessfully trying for years to get these same trains approved for services departing from Paris. Faced with these difficulties, as well as the lack of prospects for real progress on the matter, the Spanish railway company has decided to throw in the towel. The booking of slots has thus been withdrawn on the Paris-Lyon high-speed line, where a fierce battle is already raging between SNCF and Trenitalia. The planned Paris-Madrid service, which would have benefited from this potential approval, is in effect now scuppered.
Renfe had initially hoped to open the line in the summer of 2024 to coincide with the Paris Olympic Games. At the time, the Spanish Minister of Transport, Oscar Puente, had denounced the double standards, as the French market was still locked down by SNCF Réseau and the French state, whereas the Spanish network is largely open to competition, with SNCF's Ouigo even holding a 25% share of the high-speed rail market there.
Hoping to advance its case, Renfe had announced in spring 2025 the abandonment of the Toulouse-Barcelona line and threatened to withdraw from the French market. Renfe is no longer holding such a maximalist position, as it now intends to continue operating its two main French lines, which show good occupancy rates and represent a total traffic of 650,000 passengers annually. " The project will be resumed when the technical and operational conditions allow. thinks Renfe.
The Train, also a customer of Talgo
It should be noted that the new French company The Train ordered 10 high-speed trains from Talgo with the hope of operating them from 2029 on Bordeaux-Nantes, Bordeaux-Rennes, Paris-Nantes and Paris-Bordeaux. These trainsets must then also clear this hurdle of approval. SNCF still hopes for that of the Avelia Horizon trains built by Alstom, the famous TGV of the future, which must theoretically begin its operation on 1er next July on the Mediterranean axis. Unless this launch is postponed again due to technical problems...
