High-speed travelers increase in the first quarter in all corridors

2023-06-01 00:00:00

High-speed travelers increase in the first quarter in all corridors

(31/05/2023)

For the National Commission for Markets and Competition, the first notable data from the first quarter of 2023 is that it has been the first period in which three operators have competed, from the first to the last day of the quarter, in two corridors: Madrid-Barcelona and Madrid-Valencia. In addition, the last day of the same, March 31, when the Madrid-Sevilla and Madrid-Mlaga corridors have seen Iryo start their services, as an alternative to the offer that had been available up to now.

In global terms, this report shows that the places offered continue to grow, 5.3 percent, compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, in addition to the growth in the number of travelers, 35.2 percent, if compared to the first three quarters. months of 2022 if the seasonal effect is isolated.

High speed by runners

Long-distance high-speed services have maintained the number of passengers from the previous quarter, an increase of 0.8 percent, and the seats offered have grown by 7.2 percent. In addition, the levels of 2019 have been comfortably exceeded, with growth of almost 50 percent compared to the first quarter of 2022.

The demand has closed upwards with an increase in the number of travelers in all corridors if compared to the same period of the previous one. This growth has been more notable in those with competition, such as Madrid-Barcelona, ​​with an increase of 56.9 percent, and Madrid-Valencia, 119.0 percent. In turn, the Madrid-Alicante line has obtained 19.9 percent more passengers.

As for the new operators, on the Madrid-Barcelona line, Iryo, which has operated for the first time for a full quarter, has reached a share of 17.5 percent. For their part, Ouigo and AVE lost around six points and registered shares of 23.9 and 48.0 percent, respectively. Avlose remains at 10.6 percent.

In the Madrid-Valencia corridor, Renfe Viajeros has reached a 43.3 percent share with AVE services and 17.2 percent with Avlo. Ouigo, after the drop in its offer with the return to five daily circulations in each direction and the reduction in the number of double circulations, obtained a 26.2 percent share and Iryo, 13.2 percent.

This report also includes that the productivity indicators show a decline in the Madrid-Barcelona corridor compared to the first three months of 2022. Occupancy has reached 86.9 percent, 6 points less, and utilization 72, 2 percent, 2.8 points less. According to the Commission, these data “show the difficulty of the demand to follow the increase in the supply of places, which has been 67 percent this quarter.”

In the case of Madrid-Valencia relations, these indicators have had a positive evolution and have reached levels of 69.9 percent occupancy and 67.6 percent in terms of use, when the offer has grown by 114, 3 percent. In the connections to Andalusia, in the Madrid-Seville both go up ten points and remain constant compared to the last quarter of 2022.

Conventional long and medium distance

Regarding the situation of Conventional Long Distance before the pandemic, the Commission indicates that the numbers from then have not yet been reached, “although a positive trend is observed, since the interannual growth of travelers is 14 percent”.

The evolution in this first quarter of Conventional Long Distance has been seasonal, with falls in places offered of 4.7 percent, and in passengers, of 10 percent. Public service obligations have felt the effect of the free Cercanas and Media Distancia Conventional tickets and the subsidy of 50 percent of the ticket price.

The Media Distancia Alta Velocidad has registered an increase in places offered of 12.1 percent and there are already eight quarters of growth of this magnitude. Likewise, the traditional small seasonal decrease has been avoided with a slight increase in travelers of 1 percent compared to the previous quarter. Las Cercanas have also maintained the level of travelers of the last quarter of 2022, 0.9 percent and, after a growth in the number of places offered of 5.8 percent, they already exceed the offer prior to the pandemic.

In Conventional Medium Distance and Conventional Long Distance, the places offered have been almost the same as the previous quarter, an increase of 0.4 percent, and the number of travelers has fallen by 15.7 percent. The interannual variation of travelers, 83.4 percent more, reflects the effectiveness of Royal Decree-Law 14/2022 to increase the use of this product.

Prices

Since October 2022, the Commission has collected the fares for the most important routes, point-to-point, of high-speed corridors, to analyze their evolution. From his analysis it can be deduced that the average purchase prices have been characterized by a drop compared to the previous quarter, more bulky in the case of Madrid-Barcelona and Madrid-Valencia, of up to 22-23 percent, which, in the In the case of Madrid-Mlaga, it is 6 percent, Madrid-Seville, 0.8 percent, and Madrid-Alicante, which does not vary. The report explains that it has been observed that on competitive routes there are better tickets price than in those that do not exist.