Cristina Hodgson
FRENCH budget train-service Ouigo hopes to bring its high-speed trains to Andalucia by the end of 2023.
According to Federico Pareja, the industrial and advertising director of Ouigo Spain, the firm expects to function its high-speed connection between Andalucia and Madrid by the end of 2023, with stops in Sevilla, Malaga, and Cordoba.
Speaking at a press convention in Valencia, this Thursday, June 30, Pareja confirmed that the company expects to be up and running in southern Spain by the end of next year.
However, though the French firm’s high-speed low-cost service already runs between Mardid and Barcelona and is scheduled to operate between Madrid and Valencia as of October 7, in Andalucia the firm finds itself with an ‘extra complication.’
It seems that the rail system in the region is ‘the old track that exists in Spain’, and not the standard European system that Ouigo works.
As a result, there are adaptations that need to be made in accordance with rail safety, specifically the installation of a system that is actually in disuse in almost all of Europe, but will be needed to be able to operate in the south.
“We will be happy to make the investment to be able to operate as soon as possible”. Pareja said.
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