High-speed train fares plummet as Ouigo launches its low-cost service on Malaga-Madrid route

Ouigo, the first purely low-cost operator, had its Malaga debut on Wednesday this week and from 16 January the train operator will be providing journeys between the cities of Malaga and Madrid. Yet, even before welcoming the first passengers on board, Ouigo's entry into the market has already caused a general drop in high-speed train fares.

A search carried out on 15 January, just a week ahead of the travel date taken as an example (22 January) for the route from María Zambrano to Atocha, shows that it is already possible to book seats for nine, 16 or 19 euros with all four operators (AVE, Avlo, Iryo and Ouigo). These are figures that were unthinkable until now, although the emergence of more competition at the beginning of 2023 had already led to the first tangible decrease in the cost of tickets, but prices are now less than 50% of what they were shortly after the pandemic.

It is therefore not surprising that 80% of Ouigo's tickets for this first weekend are already sold out, as confirmed by Hélène Valenzuela, the company's general manager, after Wednesday's corporate visit to Malaga's María Zambrano station to see the first train arrive.

"Tickets have been on sale for a month and we are seeing a very dynamic market, the business has been very well received. We estimate that with last minute sales we will reach close to 80% this weekend, which will be a first for us. In the middle of January people are looking for the sun and light of Malaga and it is going to be a success," she said at the launch event, appearing alongside Alain Krakovitch, president of Ouigo in Spain.

In addition, for February the management team assures that sales are "at a higher rate than even those we see when we launch other routes. Andalucía and Malaga in particular are very popular and we are very happy. For us, reaching Malaga and Andalucía is a commercial milestone, they are two thirds of our business plan and we were really looking forward to being part of rail provision in Andalucía and specifically here."

The Alstom Euroduplex train arrived at around 10am, a few minutes early. Moreover, its arrival took everyone by surprise: while the company spotlight was on the stage where the official inauguration was to take place at the end of the platform at María Zambrano station, the train just appeared without warning on the track at the opposite end of the station.

Afterwards, the company's executives accompanied a large delegation of institutional and business leaders on a tour of the train's interior where its striking configuration especially stands out, with two floors connected by stairs as well as its seats, which are wider than usual. Among the attending dignitaries were Malaga's mayor Francisco de la Torre, president of the provincial council Francisco Salado, Malaga's sub-delegate for central government Javier Salas and Junta delegate Patricia Navarro, among many others.

From Thursday this week Ouigo is offering two daily departures in both directions. A maximum of 14,000 seats per week will be put on the market with journey times lasting between two hours 48 minutes to three hours.

Ouigo's trains have the largest capacity in the Spanish market in a single convoy. The operator uses Alstom Euroduplex trains, with double height (two decks) and 509 seats. Although it will not do so in the short term, it is also contemplating working with full-blown double-decker trains, which in a single journey would provide 1,018 seats. Still, the strong point of Ouigo's product is the price, publicising itself as a purely 'low cost' operator, with initial (and real) fares starting at nine euros each way.

Although it is now starting with two round trips per day, Valenzuela announced at the Malaga launch that Ouigo is already working with Adif, the company that manages Spain's rail network, to be able to launch a third. "I hope and trust that in the second half of the year we will be able to do it," she said.