It will be rare the occasion in which they will see someone on the platform of the Sants station photographing himself with a AVE before getting on the train. But it is not strange that they coincide with a family that is going away for the weekend or with a Group of friends on the way to a bachelor party who, before entering the Ouigo, take a photo while pointing to the convoy. They go to the same place Madrid; They take the same time, and their benefits, despite the fact that they have differences, are not sidereal extremes. But type of user it is peculiarly different. Let’s see.
Cristina lives in Barcelona with her three children but her parents reside in Madrid. She is a good example of what we are talking about. When she travels to the state capital for work, which often happens, at her company she they take AVE tickets. But when he goes with his family, they go for the cheaper options. “You turn it into a procedure and you don’t care if it’s more comfortable or if the bar is better. You only look for price, because You know that you don’t lose punctuality“.
always polite
He can contribute the two experiences, that of the AVE, where, he says, “it is rare for someone to raise their voices”, with that of the AVLO he Ouigowhere the environment “it’s much more relaxed“. “Maybe it’s because of the type of train, a little more elegant. It’s like when you go to eat a hamburger or choose a good restaurant: you always behave politelybut a little different, in one place you loosen up more than in another”. Maybe the reason is more mundane: on the AVE there are many people who go alone, while in the rest, even cheaper, groups and families are popular.
In it That that on Wednesday it leaves Atocha shortly after 11 o’clock, three british youths, two boys and a girl, say that they are traveling through Spain and that they wanted the visit to Barcelona to coincide with the Barça game against Manchester United. His case is the paradigm of the neophyte. They got on this train through search engineswithout knowing any of the four alternatives: AVE, Iryo, Ouigo y AVLO. “We looked at the price and the schedules, and this was the one that suited us best. We think they are better than the trains in our country,” they argue.
Miguel Ángel works in an investment fund. A weekly visit to Madrid at least. Always by AVE. He maintains that he is a man of traditions, with a fixed gear, that when something works for him he doesn’t like to changeand ensures that the price difference “is not so high as to be worth the infidelity. He says that he tried the Iryo; “out of curiosity“. “Good, comfortable, no complaints, but I’m not going to change because I believe that the AVE has more frequencies and that ensures me to leave and arrive at the hours that suit me best”.
In any case, from the experience of his friends who are also regulars on the Barcelona-Madrid corridor, he knows that the other three alternatives are also a common option. “Plus the Iryo, which is the closest thing to the AVE”. “Those who they must be having a bad time are the airlines. I think that it no longer makes much sense to go by plane if in two and a half hours you go from the center of the city to the center of the city and also you can work con wifi”.
One day by plane
He reviews his list of friends and acquaintances and none comes to mind that he goes from one place to another by plane. In the last 10 years – he has been at this job for a decade – he has only taken the plane once. “It was last year, and I had a meeting in Alcobendaswhich is next to Barajas”, he details.
In memory, the words of Javier Alonsowhich in 2008 was Sales Director of Iberia in Spain and explained the company’s intent to “further expedite check-in and boarding“It was the month of January, and in April Iberia had already lost 20% of the ticket in favor of the train. In 2013, after Renfe lowered the prices of high-speed rail, the balance shifted for the first time towards the railway with regard to the Madrid-Barcelona corridor.
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In the AVLO that returns to Barcelona at noon on Thursday, Magda points out an important detail. Those who travel for work carry tickets purchased by the company in their pockets. “Before you were only going by AVE because there was no alternative, but now we find that it can be one or the other. The bosses are not stupid: they will not pay double if they are can save“. Thus, she points out that she always preferred to go on the AVE because it is the one she knows the most “and the calmest to go advancing work“but understands” the policy of cost containment“. There is no doubt that each operator will have their sales teams on the hunt for large corporations to become their preferred option.
After a trip with each train, and without this experience being able to become dogma of faith, it seems that each traveler ends up using the company that best suits both their needs and their pocket. The executives will continue on the AVE and will flirt with the Iryo and the families and young people will bet on the AVLO or Ouigo. Everyone, whether for pleasure or work, knows that, with few exceptions, they will always arrive at the scheduled time.