Ouigo achieves 97% occupancy in the first year of competition with Renfe

Ouigo high-speed trains have registered an average occupancy of 97% on the routes they have operated between Madrid and Barcelona ---in direct competition with Renfe--- during their first year as an operator with economic fares in Spain.

Since its arrival in May 2021, coinciding with the liberalization of the railway sector, the Spanish subsidiary of SNCF Voyageurs has managed 3,674 trips between both capitals ---with stops in Zaragoza and Tarragona--- and has transported more than two million passengers. Specifically, a total of 2,001,437 people have used the service.

According to data provided by the company, 52% of the passengers it has transported in Spain are under 45 years old and more than 300,000 (15% of the total) have traveled as a family, thanks to "the reduction of prices by an average of more than 50% compared to the fares that existed before liberalization."

The French operator also highlights that passenger traffic has had occupancy peaks of 99% and 100% during holiday periods such as the Constitution long weekend, Christmas, Carnival, Easter, or the La Mercè festival.

In general, the destinations of Madrid and Barcelona have been the railway routes with the highest recovery rate of activity since mid-2021, as shown by Adif data. A trend that has consolidated in the first quarter of this year, when traffic between Madrid and Barcelona grew by 68.9% compared to the same period last year.

The long-term project in Spain foresees reaching 30 daily departures from Madrid

Ouigo's long-term project, which plans to reach 30 daily departures from Madrid, also includes the opening of lines that will connect the capital with Cordoba, Seville, and Malaga.

Hélène Valenzuela, general director of Ouigo Spain, states that "the results of this first year show that the offer fits what the Spanish traveler is looking for and that there was an unmet demand that we are responding to as the operator."