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A HIGH-SPEED, low-cost train line now operating in Spain has put tickets on sale for the Madrid-Valencia route for just €9 each way.
Ouigo, owned by French national rail board SNCF, became the first-ever train company to operate in Spain other than RENFE, launching south of the Pyrénées last year.
Its first route was the popular commuter trek, between Madrid and Barcelona, starting on May 10, 2021.
RENFE, the Spanish State rail board, had held a monopoly since its creation, but 2021 saw train travel in the country open up to private competition for the first time.
Now, the second Ouigo connection is set to go live, with three trains in either direction per day.
Latest-generation dual-width Alstom Euroduplex trains, each of which have space for 509 passengers, will link up Madrid's Chamartín-Clara Campoamor station with Spain's third-largest city on the east coast.
It will make use of the new tunnel joining Chamartín with Puerta de Atocha and Torrejón de Velasco which opened on Friday.
With the three-times-daily trains in both directions, Ouigo will be able to transport up to a total of 21,378 passengers between the two cities – a figure it describes as the equivalent of 213 airline flights or 10,689 car journeys, based upon two people per vehicle.
Tickets at €9 for a single trip between Madrid and Valencia, or Valencia and Madrid, include one piece of hand luggage and one checked-in suitcase, plus a buffet carriage.
For an additional €9, travellers can get a 'OuigoPlus' ticket, allowing them a choice of extra-large seats, two suitcases rather than one, and unlimited connection to the OuiFun entertainment platform with films, series, podcasts, games and online magazines at the touch of a button.
Otherwise, passengers who buy the standard €9 ticket can opt to increase this by €3 to get on-board WiFi throughout the journey.
Ouigo tickets work on a 'menu' basis, meaning those on the basic €9 fee can add an extra €5 for a second suitcase, or just one but an extra-large version.
Other options include flexible tickets, with free, unlimited changes up to 30 minutes before departure.
Children aged three and under go free of charge, and those aged between four and 13 inclusive travel at the lower price of €5 one-way.
As for whether the initial €9 rate is just a 'hook' which will eventually give way to much more expensive journeys once demand rises, Ouigo Spain's sales and marketing manager Federico Pareja says that availability of tickets at this price will 'fluctuate over time', with possible increases for last-minute bookings, but that 'over 70% of tickets will cost less than €30' and customers will find 'fares that will be on average 50% lower than they did before' if they book a week or more in advance.
The €9 offer is for travel starting from Ouigo's first day operating between Madrid and Valencia, October 7 this year, for journeys up to and including December 10.
Ouigo's next project is to start running routes to Alicante and Albacete, some time in 2023, with two trains a day to Madrid serving both these eastern cities, and two in return.
Once the Alicante-Madrid line, calling at Albacete, is fully established, Ouigo will turn its attention to southern Spain.
This could take longer, says Pareja, since the region of Andalucía uses much older track infrastructure, whilst Ouigo uses recent technology – the ERTMS2 automatic braking system built into the rails.
But Ouigo is willing to make the necessary investment to upgrade the tracks, enabling it to operate in Andalucía, Pareja assures.
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