Aurélien Fleurot / Photo credit: Nicolas Liponne / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 07:23, 04 May 2023

Ouigo celebrates its 10th anniversary this Thursday, May 4th. SNCF's low-cost trains have been crushing competition since their inception and this is just the beginning. Already present in Spain, the latter could soon appear in Italy by 2026. Beware of new low-cost airlines that could overshadow the French company in the coming years.

They carry 24 million passengers each year and blow out their 10 candles this Thursday, May 4. Ouigo trains are still successful and SNCF plans to double the number. The railway company also wants to build new links, to Quimper or Perpignan. These low-cost TGVs have even recently expanded throughout Europe, with its installation in Spain.

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Beware of emerging competition

The Ouigo arrived as a pioneer two years ago on the Madrid Barcelona line. Faced with this powerful competition, the Spanish company Renfe had to counterattack and offer a low price offer with tickets from 7 euros. Since then, SNCF has extended its offer, particularly to Seville and Valencia. Alain Krakovitch, the director of TGV and Intercités, describes a "real break with what could be proposed at the time of Renfe", before indicating that the filling rate is "systematically above 95%".

The French railway company now intends to expand across other neighboring countries. Competition also exists in Italy, but not on low-cost offers. However, the SNCF is closely studying the market for a probable arrival of these Ouigo among the transalpines in 2026. In Germany, FlixTrain competed with Deutsche Bahn with an offer starting at 10 euros. According to a study by Roland Berger, rail transport is about to undergo the same transformation as the aviation sector 20 years ago, with the emergence of many low-cost airlines in Europe.