Renfe sells half a million tickets to France
Renfe has achieved the milestone of half a million tickets sold for its international AVE trains between Spain and France.
The Spanish company entered the French market last summer with its AVE trains, offering two routes connecting 15 destinations in both countries. The response from demand has been positive, with an average occupancy of around 80 per cent. The majority of demand among the first 500,000 tickets sold has been for international trips and longer distances. The Barcelona-Lyon and Barcelona-Montpellier routes are particularly popular.
Renfe’s AVE trains in France operate on two routes: Lyon to Barcelona and Marseille to Madrid, partially sharing their routes. In the common stretch between Nimes and Barcelona, Renfe operates four AVE trains daily, serving intermediate stations such as Girona, Figueres, Perpignan, Narbonne, and Montpellier.
The Lyon AVE train also serves the important French hub of Valence, while the Marseille AVE connects to tourist destinations such as Avignon and Aix-en-Provence in France, as well as the cities of Tarragona, Zaragoza, and Madrid in Spain.
Renfe’s successful debut in the French market has prompted plans to quadruple its AVE offerings with trains of greater capacity, aiming to meet the growing demand for international travel between Spain and France.
Further reading:
The figure of 500,000 tickets would add up for 8 months since “last summer”, two routes and two directions served every day, and 500 passengers per train. However, some ticket sold by now will be for trips several months from now, so that the figure is not too informative.
It says that count is for “for international trips and longer distances”. I just booked AVE tickets for Montpellier-Lyon for September, is that part of the figure?