MADRID, 13 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spain-France AVE completes its first semester and reaches 300,000 passengers transported on its two international routes, made up of four services that connect 16 destinations and which have marked the debut of Renfe as a competitor in the French market.
The company has highlighted, in a statement, the “positive balance” of this commitment in terms of operations and traveler demand.
Renfe managed to start its AVE operations alone in the French market after completing all the technical, operational and administrative procedures with its own personnel. July 13 was the first time that a Spanish driver provided the commercial service of an AVE train beyond Perpignan.
Thus, since this summer Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Avignon, Valence, Nimes, Aix-en-Provence, Narbonne and Perpignan have joined the long list of AVE destinations and have begun to have a direct train connection with Spain thanks to the arrival of Renfe to France.
This operational deployment was carried out gradually during the summer to guarantee the stability of the service, until reaching 28 weekly circulations in October.
In this way, Renfe has transported 300,000 passengers in six months and is managing to stabilize the use of its trains above 75% on the two routes: the one that connects Barcelona and Lyon and the one that connects Madrid, Barcelona and Marseille.
Specifically, the AVE service between Barcelona and Lyon connects the stations of Barcelona Sants, Girona, Figueres Vilafant, Perpignan, Narbonne, Montpellier-St-Roch, Nîmes, Valence TGV and Lyon Part Dieu. Departing from Barcelona at 8:19 in the morning and returning from Lyon at 2:30 in the afternoon. Travel time for the entire route will be five hours.
On the other hand, the AVE service on the Madrid-Marseille route connects the intermediate stations of Guadalajara Yebes, Zaragoza Delicias, Camp de Tarragona, Barcelona Sants, Girona, Figueres Vilafant, Perpignan, Narbonne, Montpellier-St-Roch, Nîmes, Avignon- TGV, Aix-en-Provence TGV and Marseille-St Charles.
