Thursday, April 27, 2023, 02:24
Alicante and Albacete continue to expand their high-speed offer with Madrid, and tomorrow they will launch the new ‘low cost’ service of the private operator Ouigo, with two daily frequencies in each direction and 28,000 weekly seats. Travel time will be 2 hours and 20 minutes from Alicante. With this increase in high-speed trains, the two neighboring cities will be able to attract more passengers from the Region of Murcia, which has yet to receive a response from the Ministry of Transport and Renfe to improve the service.
In addition to Ouigo, the other private operator Iryo will start operating on June 2 with another two daily frequencies from Alicante and Albacete. In this way, both destinations will have an offer of thirteen AVE and Alvia trains, along with another six ‘low cost’ trains from Renfe (Avlo), Ouigo and Iryo. None of the three companies has incorporated Murcia into these new services, extending the route to the El Carmen station. In the case of Ouigo and Iryo, their representatives have indicated that they will probably do so in the medium term, but without specifying dates.
‘Call effect’ for travelers
Antonio del Campo, a member of the Technical Cabinet of the CC OO Railway Sector, told LA VERDAD last week that Renfe should have extended one of the two Avlo de Alicante to Murcia. Likewise, he highlighted the ‘pull effect’ exerted by the Alicante station, which continues to attract more and more travelers from the Region due to its wide range of trains with Madrid and at a better price.
Ouigo, the Spanish subsidiary of the French railway company SNCF, has announced the inauguration tomorrow of its Madrid-Albacete-Alicante line, the third to operate in Spain. The inaugural act, pro double party, will be attended by the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, and the general director of Ouigo in Spain, Hélène Valenzuela, together with the regional authorities and representatives of the sector. The line will have two daily round-trip frequencies (4 routes), with which more than 28,000 passengers a week will be able to access the low-fare model that Ouigo, which implies low fares and quality service, reports the company in a statement.
cheap rates
The tickets for this new line start from the general rate of 9 euros – with a flat rate of 5 euros for children between 4 and 13 years old, and free rate for children up to 3 years old as long as they travel in the arms of an adult, adds Ouigo . In the Alicante-Madrid direction, there will be trains at 2 and 4 pm; while the frequencies from Chamartín will do so at 10:15 and 12:51.
“As a result of this new sustainable, 100% digital and innovative model, people from Madrid, Alicante and Albacete have a new high-speed alternative that was created with the purpose of making this means of transport accessible to all budgets,” reports the company. «Today, families, the self-employed, young people and students, profiles that could not afford to travel at high speed before the arrival of Ouigo, have access for the first time to trains with 509 seats in a single unit and 1,018 in a multiple unit (two linked trains). Starting tomorrow, Alicante will have a direct connection with the financial heart of Madrid, while Madrid will have a new window to the Mediterranean Sea, after circulation began last October on the Madrid-Valencia line with three daily one-way routes and back, “says the Ouigo statement.
Miguel Sánchez’s reproach to the President of the Government: “The Murcia AVE is a scam”
The spokesman for Ciudadanos in the Senate, Miguel Sánchez from Murcia, denounced on Tuesday the deficient railway services in the Region during the plenary session of control of the national government. The Murcian politician asked President Pedro Sánchez if he plans to recover the direct line with Madrid through Cieza and Camarillas, and if he is going to put more high-speed frequencies between Murcia and Madrid. In both cases he did not receive a response from the chief executive. “Would Putin be blamed for keeping Murcia on a railway island, with an AVE that is a scam?” said the senator from Ciudadanos. He added that the current service “seems more like a gymkhana than an AVE to Madrid.” «That is not an AVE, Mr. President, rather it looks like the witch’s train, with brooms included, as fares that cost an arm and a leg. Do you plan to recover the direct route of the Region of Murcia with Madrid? And in the meantime, are they going to put more direct frequencies through Alicante? »He asked.
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