Iryo and Ouigo are rapidly taking market share from the two public high-speed operators, Renfe and Avlo, and already account for 45% of the connection with the highest traffic, the one that connects Madrid with Barcelona.
In the second quarter of the year, Iryo experienced explosive growth and managed to transport 866,700 passengers, 24% of the total. The merit is that this operator, owned by Trenitalia, Globalvia and Air Nostrum, began its activity in November of last year.
The French Ouigo, which debuted on the link between Madrid and Barcelona in May 2021, transported 749,990 people in the quarter, 23% more than a year before. Its market share is 21%.
These two operators have taken almost half of the market, but not at the expense of Renfe, but rather at the expense of expanding demand. Renfe-AVE and Avlo accounted for 55% of passengers, or 1.99 million, a figure just 2.6% lower than the same quarter of the previous year.
In addition, occupancy has exceeded 90% in all operators except Iryo, whose rate remained at 82.99%. Renfe and Avlo trains traveled at 99.2% and Ouigo trains traveled at 99.9%, according to data released this Monday by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC).
The number of passengers on this corridor reached a record of 3.6 million in the quarter, 36% more. However, the effects of competition are also beginning to put pressure on operators: Ouigo has announced the withdrawal of one of its five daily trains between Madrid and Barcelona due to lack of profitability and prices rose during the quarter.
Prices between Madrid and Barcelona had fallen in the first quarter of the year, but between April and June they experienced increases of between 17% and 37%. In the cases of Ouigo, Iryo and Avlo, they range between 40 and 47 euros per trip, compared to 66 euros for the Renfe AVE.
The CNMC highlights that in the second quarter the Spanish high-speed railway broke its passenger record, with 8.32 million, 33% more than in the same period of the previous year, thanks to the activity of the corridors where the competition has entered.
Nearly one million passengers traveled between Madrid and Seville, 30% more, compared to 750,000 between Madrid and Alicante, and 1.3 million between Madrid and Valencia.
Prices on routes in which new competitors have joined, indicates the CNMC, have fallen. If before they ranged between 11 and 13 cents per traveler and per kilometer, now they are between 7 and 8 cents.
