FRENCH national rail board SNCF will start to operate in Spain from March 15, 2021 – a year when, for the first time, train services in the country are due to open to competition.
Spanish public-sector transport company RENFE has held a monopoly on rail services for decades, but the government announced plans some years back to turn national trains into a competitive market and allow other companies to operate.
This means RENFE will have to work harder to attract and retain customers, since these will be able to 'shop around' for the best travel deals from next year.
And they may well find them once SNCF gets its wheels in the door: Through its budget service Ouigo, France's national rail body will be offering trips at 50% of the price of RENFE's.
Initially, the SNCF will operate along Spain's most heavily-frequented commuter corridor – between Barcelona and Madrid – with stops in Zaragoza, Aragón and Tarragona, Catalunya.
Later, the service will extend to lines linking Madrid with Valencia, Alicante, Córdoba, Sevilla and Málaga.
SNCF will use its Alstom Euroduplex double-decker trains (pictured above), and will be the first time in Spain's history that two-storey carriages serve the high-speed tracks, currently only covered by the AVE network.
The Alstom Euroduplex trains have seating for 509 passengers, a bar on board, and stewards to attend to customers.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com