Is SNCF in danger against Renfe?

Renfe announced that it has sold nearly 100,000 tickets since its return to France, on the Marseille – Madrid and Lyon – Barcelona routes.

In June of last year, the Spanish operator Renfe announced its return to the French railways after an initial attempt several years ago. For the past month now, and with its high-speed trains on the tracks in France, Renfe has sold over 100,000 tickets.

Several attractive offers

On July 13th, the first connection between France and Spain with Renfe was made. After a month of operation, the Spanish company announced that 43,000 travelers have enjoyed the Madrid – Marseille and Lyon – Barcelona lines during the summer holidays. A very positive assessment, because in addition, trains had a fill rate of nearly 80%. How has a new operator managed to fill so many seats?

Tickets at 9 euros to reach French stations, as well as tickets at 29 euros for the Lyon – Barcelona or Marseille – Madrid journeys, the most popular cities. The new offers from the operator explain the presence of travelers on its trains.

The presence of Trenitalia

The Italian railway company has joined the list of rail operators present in France at the opening of competition. The first to establish itself, the operator operates the Paris – Milan connection to travel to Italy. However, even if the two operators have successfully integrated into the SNCF network, it does not mean they will replace SNCF.

SNCF still ahead

On June 20th, the French operator announced that it sold 500,000 more tickets than last summer at the same date. To give an idea, last year, SNCF sold 18 million tickets, a record. This growth indicates that the French people are still using trains as much as before, if not more. The gap between Renfe, Trenitalia, and SNCF remains significant. The two foreign operators are present on two and one railway line respectively. A long journey lies ahead in an attempt to challenge SNCF as soon as possible.