The
private management of high-speed rail reaches Spain.
The Spanish company Operador Ferroviario de Levante -a subsidiary of Air Nostrum- and the Italian Trenitalia have formed the Intermodalidad de Levante consortium (Ilsa), which is taking the last steps to operate on the Ave lines in 2022. Ilsa will be the
third railway operator of the Spanish high speed
, after Renfe, which manages the Ave and low cost Avlo brands, and the French Ouigo, owned by SNCF.
All of this is the result of the
liberalization of passenger transport by rail
that Spain began last May with the entry into service of the first Ouigo trips.
This liberalization has brought a
competition that benefits the consumer
because it lowers prices, increases frequencies, although it also reduces comfort somewhat.
In addition, it will help to make profitable the huge investments that the Ave requires. The new agents «will take advantage of the potential of our
approximately 3,500 kilometers of high-speed lines
.
A network that has demanded billions of euros from everyone's pockets and that has to be made accessible to the entire population ”, stated the president of the railway manager, Adif, Isabel Pardo de Vera at the end of last year.
With the liberalization,
Adif achieves a greater use of the infrastructures and more income
, since the companies pay a fee to the manager for the use of their facilities.
In the next ten years, Ouigo and Ilsa will pay 1,800 euros for this concept.
Today, the route between Madrid and Barcelona is covered by two companies, Renfe, through Renfe and the 'low cost' Avlo, and SNCF, under the Ouigo brand.
In these months, citizens have seen the daily trains
that make this route
increase from 34 to 50
.
Ilsa plans to offer 32 daily services -16 in each direction-.
The arrival of competition has also caused a
reduction in prices.
After Ouigo's aggressive campaign at its launch, which offers tickets between Madrid and Barcelona at 9 euros, Renfe counterattacked with Avlo rates starting at 5 euros.
This will keep the train gaining ground on the plane.
In 2019, the last comparable year before the pandemic,
the Ave moved 4.3 million people between Madrid and Barcelona, compared to the 2.3 million people who used the Aerial Bridge
.
Since the arrival of the Ave, the passengers of the Puente Aéreo have fallen by 32%.
Ilsa is the latest company to come to liberalization.
Tomorrow it will present its strategy
, the commercial name it will use and its rates
in Madrid
.
Víctor Bañares, CEO, affirms that "we want to be the Vueling of the trains", and the "favorite brand that citizens choose to travel for business and leisure."
After the Madrid-Barcelona axis, the companies will gradually extend their services to the
Madrid-Valencia, Madrid-Seville and Madrid-Malaga
routes
.
The plane has the days counted in the national short trips.
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