Renfe closes the first year of AVE in France with a balance of 620,000 passengers transported and more than 1,300 international journeys. The AVE began operating between Barcelona and Lyon on July 13, 2023 and between Madrid and Marseille on July 28.
The AVE between Spain and France celebrates its first year with a global total of 620,000 passengers transported on the two routes that link 15 destinations between Madrid and Barcelona and Marseille and Lyon. This international service, which Renfe launched on July 13, 2023, marked the company’s debut as an operator in direct competition in the French market.
Renfe arrived in Lyon with its flagship brand, AVE, on the eve of the French National Day and with a clear strategy: “we are here to stay”. It was the first time that a Spanish driver had travelled on a commercial journey north of Perpignan and it was a historic milestone for the company, completed in record time.
Renfe thus began to compete in a priority market in its international strategy, where it wants to become a leading mobility operator in the short term, both in services considered public service and in High Speed, where it aims to expand AVE operations on domestic and cross-border routes.
Renfe AVE: 1,300 international journeys
The first year of AVE in France has been positive in terms of both operations and demand. Renfe has put more than 1,300 trains into circulation this year to connect the 15 stations that make up its route map for this first year, creating a competitive network of origins-destinations that in some cases have the AVE as the only direct train and thus contributing to the cohesion of the region and sustainable mobility on both sides of the Pyrenees.
Renfe carried out a gradual roll-out of operations. First on the Barcelona-Lyon corridor, with runs from Friday to Monday; an offer to which two weeks later it added the Madrid-Marseille connection also four days a week, to then advance to daily frequencies on both corridors until completing the 28 weekly AVE frequencies on 1 October 2023 and achieving stability in the service.
Renfe’s AVE trains in France operate on two routes that connect Lyon with Barcelona and Marseille with Madrid, and which partially share their route. On the shared section between Nimes and Barcelona, Renfe offers four AVE trains every day that also serve the intermediate stations of Girona, Figueres, Perpignan, Narbonne and Montpellier.
The Lyon AVE train also serves the important French hub of Valence and the Marseille AVE serves the tourist destinations of Avignon and Aix-en-Provence in France and the cities of Tarragona, Zaragoza and Madrid in Spain.
620,000 passengers, high occupancy and long distances
This year, Renfe has transported 620,000 passengers on these trains, achieving an average occupancy rate on international routes of 82%. Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier are the French stations with the highest demand for AVE passengers and the most popular routes are those that link these cities with Barcelona, the main Spanish destination in terms of number of international passengers, where almost 60% of the demand is concentrated.
The longer distance routes are therefore the most popular for travellers on international routes, which allows for better use of these trains. Not in vain are the AVE trains the best connection at the moment between the south of France and Catalonia.
“Renfe’s value proposition in the French high-speed market is summarised in the internationally recognised attributes of quality, reliability and excellence associated with its AVE brand. The comfort of the trains, the journey from centre to centre, connectivity, ample seat space, flexible baggage policy, universal accessibility and customer service on board,” the company says.
To encourage leisure travel, Renfe has added its nine French destinations to the Renfe Viajes offer, the Renfe tourist package sales agency that allows you to purchase AVE train + hotel + leisure together and has integrated the rich tourist offer of Spanish destinations as a purchase option from any French station on its AVE network.
In this way, both the high percentage of international travellers on these routes, as well as French and Spanish travellers, now have thousands of possible combinations to complete their travel offer in 15 destinations that concentrate a large part of the main attractions of Spain and France.
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