Alex Trelinski
FRENCH train operator Ouigo will launch a low-cost high speed train service between Alicante and Madrid this autumn.
Adult fares will start at €9 and children’s tickets for those aged between 4 and 14 will be just €5 at all times.
Ouigo say that two daily round-trips will operate between Alicante and Madrid.
The company is owned by France’s national SNCF rail firm who ended RENFE’s 80-year monopoly on Spanish services last year.
Ouigo’s mission statement is to ‘popularise’ high-speed rail travel at an ‘affordable price’.
They are heavily promoting an onboard portal for an extra charge to provide wi-fi, information, and entertainment for passengers.
Their trains have the largest capacity in Spain with up to 1,018 passengers able to be accommodated on two levels.
The firm claims that over 1.4 people have used its services since it launched nine months ago with Barcelona, Madrid, Tarragona, and Zaragoza on its network.
A ticket price war broke out last year between Ouigo and RENFE subsidiary AVLO, with fares for a 600 kilometre journey between Barcelona and Madrid falling to €7.
READ MORE:
- Low-cost bullet train price war breaks out on Madrid-Barcelona commuter corridor in Spain
- TRAIN BATTLE as Ouigo launches in Spain with cheaper fares and on-board entertainment services
- Leading train operator RENFE faces stiff new competition as French rival enters Spain
