Train travel is in vogue. Whether for sustainability, comfort, or speed, the train has been gaining followers in recent years. New routes within and outside borders, new operators, and new travelers have joined the train. And this predilection for the rails is noticeable in Barcelona and in the city's daily life and cultural scene: with Lady Gaga's concerts at the end of October, train journeys to Barcelona increased by 31% compared to the previous week, according to Trainline data.
In this boom of train travel, the city now adds a new route operated by Ouigo, a subsidiary of the French group SNCF. The high-speed operator will connect Barcelona and Seville without the need to change trains starting December 14, on a journey that will also stop in Zaragoza, Madrid, and Córdoba.
With departures from Barcelona around 7:30 in the morning, and from Seville around 5 PM, both cities will be connected in about six hours, with about 7,000 seats each week. With prices starting from nine euros —and seven euros per fixed journey up to 14 years old—, tickets will be available starting tomorrow. Until now, Ouigo's direct connections from Barcelona went to Madrid and Zaragoza.
With this new service, the Barcelona-Seville route will gain frequency and seats, which are added to those already offered by other operators with both direct journeys and train changes. "For Ouigo, this new route represents much more than a line on the map; it means uniting two essential destinations," defended the general director of Ouigo Spain, Hélène Valenzuela.
At a presentation event for the route amidst guitars, castanets, and sevillanas at the Palau Dalmases, Valenzuela called on "students, freelancers, professionals traveling for work, families reuniting, or those who want to discover the best of Barcelona and Seville" to get on the train. And she advocated doing so sustainably: "Compared to planes, cars, or buses, the train is the most sustainable means of transport available; we are contributing to a green future."
And Ouigo wants to reinforce this contribution, with more trains and frequencies: by 2026, it plans to expand its seat offering by 14%, and will put a total of three million into service from Barcelona. Since it began operating in Spain in 2021 —precisely from Barcelona—, Ouigo has transported 20 million travelers, ten of whom had Catalonia as their origin or destination.
2025, the year of positive EBITDA
Since then, the French operator has established connections with 15 destinations. "The railway liberalization that we are pioneering democratizes quality high-speed rail," Valenzuela defended. And the increase in connections is reflected in the company's results:"This will be the year of positive ebitda,"has guaranteed. It will be in a context in which, despite the growth in demand, railway operators recorded losses in 2024 —of about 40 million in the case of Ouigo—, according to a report this same week from the National Securities Market Commission.As Valenzuela has assured, various factors will contribute to achieving other results in 2025: its pricing policy and the deployment of its routes. "Our affordable pricing policy is a long-term policy," he highlighted, after recalling that it was in January 2025 when Ouigo launched various routes in the south of Spain: "Before we were limping; since January we are already walking on our two legs," Valenzuela highlighted. To these, he now also adds the new direct connection between Barcelona and Seville; "and we trust to repeat the success we have already seen on other routes."