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Ignacio Lillo
Malaga
Friday, 17 January 2025, 10:18
French budget rail operator Ouigo has become the latest to run trains on the high-speed line between Malaga and Madrid.
The service was officially launched in the presence of authorities on Wednesday and the first trains covered the route between María Zambrano and Atocha stations on Thursday.
Ouigo's arrival on the market with prices for the three-hour journey from as little as nine euros has already caused a general fall in prices for rail travel between the two cities on the high-speed line that is also covered by Ave, Avlo and Iryo trains.
Hélène Valenzuela, the company's director general in Spain, said in Malaga on Wednesday that 80 per cent of tickets for this weekend had already been sold.
"Tickets have been on sale for a month and we are seeing a very dynamic market, a very good commercial response; we estimate that with last minute sales we will reach close to 80% this weekend, which will be a first major milestone. In the middle of January, people in Madrid are looking for the sun and warmth of the Costa del Sol and it is going to be a success," said Valenzuela, speaking alongside Alain Krakovitch, president of Ouigo España.
Ouigo is currently operating two services a day each way using the Alstom Euroduplex double-decker trains which can carry 509 passengers at any one time. The journey time is between two hours and 48 minutes and three hours. Valenzuela said on Wednesday that a third frequency was planned for later in the year. Doubling up the trains to carry 1,018 passengers is also an option the company is considering for the mid-term.
The first train carrying passengers from Madrid pulled into Malaga station on Thursday morning at 10am, 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The passengers, some of whom were aware they were on the service's maiden voyage, were mainly Malaga locals living in Madrid and tourists.
One passenger did not even leave the station but waited on the platform to get back on the next train. Joan Hervás from Valencia is a rail enthusiast who did not want to miss the first train. He travelled from his home city to Madrid to be among the first passengers to get on the double- decker train to Malaga on Thursday morning.
"Yesterday I went to Madrid especially to have the pleasure of being the first on this new Ouigo route," he said on arrival in Malaga. "It's very economical, but what impressed me most is that it arrived almost 20 minutes ahead of schedule; it was amazing," added Hervás. "I've been on other first journeys and this afternoon I'm going on the Seville line," he said.
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