Ouigo España is an

open-access operator In rail transport, an open-access operator is an operator that takes full commercial risk, running on infrastructure owned by a third party and buying paths on a chosen route and, in countries where rail services run under franchises, are not s ...

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

way services in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is a subsidiary of

SNCF Voyageurs SNCF Voyageurs (, ) is a state-owned enterprise founded on 1 January 2020, an independent subsidiary of the French National Railway Company (SNCF), in charge of operating passenger trains. Its predecessor is (partially) SNCF Mobilités EPIC ...

, the French national railway company, and uses its trademark

Ouigo Ouigo () is a low-cost service range of both conventional and high-speed trains run by SNCF in France, and also to Belgium in cooperation with National Railway Company of Belgium, NMBS/SNCB. The literal translation of ''Ouigo'' from French to En ...

. Ouigo España was set up in 13 December 2018 and was highly structured around SNCF's existing Ouigo domestic services in France. It competes with several other high speed operators in the Spanish market, such as the Spanish state-owned railway company

Renfe Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

Avlo Avlo (, short for Alta Velocidad Low ''Cost'' literally ''"No Frills High Speed"'' ) is a low-cost high-speed rail service operated by Spanish national rail company Renfe, offering services connecting major Spanish cities such as Madrid, Zaragoza ...

service and the open-access operator

Iryo Iryo is the brand of ''Intermodalidad de Levante S.A.'' (ILSA), a private high-speed rail operator in Spain. The company is jointly owned by the Italian state-owned railway company Trenitalia (51%), the Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum (25%), ...

. Ouigo España had planned to launch services in December 2020, however, this was delayed in response to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. During May 2021, the initial service between

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

with

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

was launched; within six months, one million passengers had reportedly travelled onboard its trains. On 7 October 2022, Ouigo España inaugurated its second high-speed service between Madrid and Valencia, while services between Madrid and Alicante commenced during April 2023. The company has ambitions to launch additional routes, such as to Malaga and

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, at some future date. Its rolling stock comprises TGV Euroduplex, which have been converted to be compatible with Spanish infrastructure.

History

The company was founded on 13 December 2018, under the name of Rielsfera S.A.; on 28 September 2020, the firm changed its name to Ouigo España S.A., in line with the Ouigo brand that had been previously introduced by

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

for its low-cost services in France. Prior to adopting the Ouigo brand, Rielsfera considered using the Falbalá brand. Beyond the naming scheme, Ouigo España will be heavily modelled on that of the existing Ouigo operation. During the 2010s and 2020s, the Spanish state-owned railway infrastructure manager

Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ADIF (, an acronym of ) is a Spanish state-owned railway infrastructure manager. This state owned company reports to the Ministry of Development (Spain), Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. ADIF is charged with the management of m ...

(ADIF) has been conceptualising and implementing various reforms towards the liberalization of passenger rail transport. Towards this end, in November 2020, ADIF signed a framework agreement that granted it capacity in the main high-speed corridors. Ouigo España is not the only open-access operator active in the Spanish market; in addition to competing the Spanish state-owned railway company

's budget high speed

service, which began service in June 2021, it also faces

(owned by

Air Nostrum Air Nostrum (doing business as Iberia Regional) is a Spanish regional airline based in Valencia that merged with CityJet in 2023, forming the region's largest aviation holding company, Strategic Alliance of Regional Airlines (SARA). An affiliate ...

and

Trenitalia Trenitalia Società per azioni, SpA is the primary train operator of Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government. It was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulati ...

), which commenced operations in late 2022. At one point, Ouigo España had intended to inaugurate its first service during December 2020, however, it was decided to postpone the commencement of services into the first half of 2021 due to the

pandemic. Instead, in May 2021, the initial service was launched using five pairs of purpose-converted TGV train sets to connect

with

. Even prior to the launch of operations, the company had openly spoken on its plans for additional services from Madrid to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

, Malaga, and

to be enacted at an undetermined future date. By December 2020, 14 TGV Duplex sets had been delivered to Ouigo España. In December 2021, it was announced that one million passengers had travelled onboard services provided by Ouigo España. During August 2022, it was reported that the operator had carried roughly two million passengers in its first twelve months of operations and that SNCF's management was encouraged by these results. In October 2023, SNCF announced that in excess of five million passengers had travelled on Ouigo España's trains during the operation's first two years. Ouigo España expanded the scope of its operations on multiple occasions; on 7 October 2022, it launched operations on the Madrid - Valencia route, its second high-speed service. During April 2023, Ouigo España's new service between Madrid and Alacante commenced using two pairs of daily trains. Since 18 April 2024 Ouigo España offers a new daily service Madrid Chamartín–

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

–

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

with 2 schedules per direction, one of them continuing to

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

and Alicante and since 4 September 2024 the daily service Madrid Chamartín–Albacete–

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

–

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

is in operation.

Services

Routes

As of April 2024, Ouigo España operates on the following routes: * Madrid Atocha– Barcelona Sants via Zaragoza–Delicias and

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

. * Madrid Chamartín–

via Cuenca. *Madrid Chamartín–

via Cuenca and

. *Madrid Chamartín–

via

. *Madrid Chamartín–

via Albacete and

. *Alicante–Valladolid via Albacete, Madrid Chamartín and Segovia.

Rolling stock

9 TGV Euroduplex trainsets are used for the service.

References

External links