The tren low cost between Madrid and Alicante, getting closer. The company Ouigo will put up for sale from June 30 tickets (priced from 9 euros) of this high-speed train that will connect Madrid con Alicante y Valencia. It is also expected that on that same day the start dates of the rest of the operations in the Community will be communicated (it will depend on this whether the tunnel that connects the station Chamartín with Atocha may or may not be in operation by then).
According to sources from the railway sector, it is expected that the train between Madrid and Valencia and Alicante de Ouigo go live after summeralthough the company could operate sooner if the conditions are right.
The company has called a press breakfast, in which the general director of Ouigo Spain, Hélène Valenzuela, and the commercial and marketing director, Federico Pareja, will present the offer that will reach the Valencian Community and will announce the date of commencement of operations.
As of June 30, the sale of tickets is also open and on the official website of Ouigo Departures for Valencia are already announced “soon” along with the rest of the destinations already available from Madrid (Zaragoza, Barcelona and Tarragona).
Why only from Chamartín?
Ouigo trains could only, at the moment, operate from the station of Madrid-Chamartín to the Valencian Community. The reason, as detailed by the company in a statement, is that the trains work with the european standard security system (ERTMS), but the section that connects Atocha with the corridor that goes to the Community has the Spanish historical security system (LZB) to Torrejón de Velasco, “which makes it impossible” for trains to run from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha to Valencia and Alicante.
To operate in this corridor, Ouigo needs the infrastructure that has been developed, the tunnel that connects Chamartín with Puerta de Atocha and has the ERTMS system, to be in operation. The tunnel is finished, but some works are currently being carried out in its surroundings and its commissioning is also pending authorization from the State Railway Safety Agency (AESF).
In addition, although the company has begun the training of train drivers on the route to Valencia, it will also have to train them later on this section, as well as finish homologating the trains in this tunnel.
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For all these reasons, Ouigo has explained that does not yet have the date of entry into operation of the tunnel, and has assured that it is “working as fast as it can” with Adif, the AESF and the rest of the players in the sector to “get to Valencia as soon as possible”.
“We are looking forward to arriving and being able to offer all the benefits that liberalization brings. These benefits are already being seen in the corridor between Madrid and Barcelona, with ticket price drops of 50% on average, new profiles such as families and young people on high speed, an increase in passenger traffic of 75% or greater decarbonization of transport, among others”, the company has indicated.