What could be better than a wide-ranging high-speed rail network? Three or four competing ones are set to improve travelers' options but also drive prices down.
In 2021, Renfe was joined by French-owned upstart Ouigo, and launched its own low-cost arm, Avlo, in response.
With the arrival of iryo, that makes three official competitors but four competing brands - making Spain the first country in Europe to have so many high-speed options.
Iryo is owned by some major players, including Italian state railway operator Trenitalia, Spanish infrastructure company Globalvia and Air Nostrum, a Spanish airline.
Iryo will continue operations between Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza on December 16th with operations between Madrid, Cuenca and Valencia. More routes are waiting in 2023: connections to Seville, Malaga, Cordoba and Antequera on March 31, and Alicante and Albacete on June 2.
The company has signed agreements to offer combined tickets and travel experiences with Cercan as regional metro area commuter rail systems and Air Europa. It will carry eight million passengers a year, and will operate 30% of Spain's high-speed services.
The trains have four classes of travel - the intriguingly named Inicial, Singular, Singular Only You and Infinita, which is billed as being centered around customization and flexibility. Three of the seats are designed for business travelers, but all seats on board will have USB and standard power sockets, individual armrests, and free 5 G Wi-Fi, said the company in a statement.
The Haezea menu, which means wind in the Basque language, will be full of seasonal ingredients and healthy options prepared on the spot, according to the company.
Spanish politicians attended a maiden voyage on Monday. It was hailed as a decisive step in the advance towards new mobility in Spain by Ximo Puig, president of the Generalitat Valenciana.
Trenitalia's Luigi Corradi said the launch was a response to the environmental and social sustainability goals set by the European Union to improve travel in every country. Nick Brooks, secretary general of ALLRAIL the Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants in Europe, said ahead of the launch: It is great to see how commercially driven Open Access services such as iryo are making long-distance rail more attractive and attracts travelers away from less sustainable transport modes. The group called for competition between different operators on all high-speed rail routes in Europe, calling companies like iryo the future of passenger rail. As for prices, tickets for the 382 mile, 2 hr 45 minute journey from Barcelona to Madrid start at just €18 $19, although most of the journeys are around €50. It would take over six hours to drive between the two cities.