The Spanish private high-speed operator owned by Air Nostrum's partners, Trenitalia and Globalvia, Iryo, has made its inaugural journey to celebrate its connection with Andalusia one day before the launch of its commercial operations.
The first trip with the autonomous community has been made between Madrid-Atocha Station and Seville-Santa Justa Station with a stop in Córdoba and has had the presence of institutional and business representation of the mobility and tourism sector.
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Economy.
This is how you travel in Iryo, the premium option of high speed in Spain
- Writing: RAQUEL VILLAÉCIJA Valencia
This is how you travel in Iryo, the premium option of high speed in Spain
Economy.
Iryo opens this week to compete with Avlo and Ouigo: these are the routes and prices
- Writing: RAQUEL VILLAÉCIJA Madrid
Iryo opens this week to compete with Avlo and Ouigo: these are the routes and prices
Thus, this Friday, March 31, commercial trips begin in Seville, Malaga and Cordoba and June 2 in Antequera, as explained by the operator in a statement.
At his stop at Córdoba Station, the mayor of the city, José María Bellido, welcomed the first inaugural Iryo train and stressed that "it is always great news that Córdoba increases its chances of welcoming new visitors".
"We welcome with open arms and applaud courageous initiatives that bet on the tourism potential of Córdoba and connect us, through High Speed, with the main cities of our country. I wish Iryo all the luck in the world in this adventure that begins because that will also mean many successes and good news for Córdoba, "he added.
Upon arrival in the Seville capital, the deputy delegate of the Government in Seville, Isabel Mayo López, stressed in her speech that "the arrival of Iryo to Seville and Andalusia is a boost to sustainable mobility in our province very important".
"The Government of Spain has led the liberalization of the railway market, achieving an increase in services, a greater variety of products and a significant reduction in prices on routes where it already operates in competition," he added.
For his part, the Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, stressed that "with the arrival of the Iryo High Speed train, Seville and Andalusia once again make a place in the history of the railway, since a new stage in the mobility of our land is inaugurated that will allow to increase and make more affordable the possibilities of traveling for pleasure or to do business."
In that sense, Sanz explained that "the railway liberation in Andalusia will be a direct contribution to the Andalusian economy, promoting sectors as important as tourism". At the same time, he remarked that "it will allow us to opt more easily to use a sustainable and low-polluting means of transport such as the train".
Finally, the mayor of Seville, Antonio Muñoz, has received the train on the platform and has pointed out during the subsequent event that "Iryo arrives in the city at a unique moment coinciding with a great calendar of sporting, congress and cultural events, among them, the ceremony of the Grammy Awards 2023 that will be held in Seville, To which we must add the expansion of the airport's capacity by 30% through the new terminal that will allow new connections, as well as the growth of hotel capacity with the nine 5-star establishments".
"These are realities that will boost our tourism with the aim of improving the great recovery data of the sector in 2022 and continue improving the figures in this 2023," said the councilor.
On the other hand, the president of Iryo, Carlos Bertomeu, has highlighted that, "15 days after celebrating the 31st anniversary of the inauguration of the High Speed in Spain between Madrid and Seville, we make history again. We are proud to be part of this great project that, thanks to the work of the whole team, allows us to break the railway monopoly in Andalusia for the first time".
In this regard, he assured that "personalization, sustainability, multimodal conception and the travel experience define Iryo and we hope to become the preferred mobility option for those who travel to or from Andalusia for leisure or business".
There has also been representation of Adif with the assistance of the deputy director to the Presidency, Fidel Corral, and the general director of Circulation and Capacity Management, José Estrada. The Deputy Minister of Development, Articulation of the Territory and Housing of the Junta de Andalucía, Mario Muñoz-Atanet Sánchez, also attended.
"Strategic partner"
Iryo arrives in Andalusia with the vocation of being a "strategic partner" of the socioeconomic development of Andalusia. To this end, the operator will start operations with four frequencies for Seville and Malaga with a stop in Córdoba (two in each direction), gradually increasing them until reaching, on June 2, 12 frequencies on the Madrid-Córdoba-Seville route (six in each direction) and ten on the Madrid-Córdoba-Málaga route (five in each direction).
Finally, on this same date, it will expand its destinations in Andalusia to four, including the connection with Antequera, which will have two daily frequencies.
In the coming years, Iryo will transfer around 2.5 million passengers per year in Andalusia that will generate a tourist expenditure of around 350 million euros per year. To date, in terms of employment the company has hired a total of 60 people in the community. At the national level, the figure will amount to 8 million passengers per year with a tourist expenditure of 2,000 million euros per year.
Iryo began its commercial operations on November 25, 2022 between Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona, and, just a few weeks later, on December 16, it arrived in Valencia and Cuenca. Continuing with its roadmap, after the inauguration of the connection with southern Spain, on June 2 it will arrive in Albacete and Alicante and on June 15 it will do so in Camp de Tarragona.
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