Have you heard about the new low-cost high-speed train service that the Spanish RENFE service will be offering starting on April 6th, 2020?
This service, known as AVLO, will take advantage of Spain’s high-speed rail infrastructure but provide a more basic and scaled-down version of its AVE (normal high-speed) operation in a bet that consumers will flock to the low prices and fast speeds of a budget high-speed train.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first low-cost, high-speed service that is being offered. France’s SNCF company has a service known as OuiGo that operates on a similar model.
Making its debut in 2013, OuiGo has shown that a low-cost, high-speed model can be successful. Reducing costs by using secondary stations, offering fewer on-board service, and selling tickets exclusively online, SNCF has achieved huge ridership numbers with their new low-cost plan.
Spain’s new service will become the second low-cost train service in operation, taking advantage of a new system that looks to capitalize on a plan similar to the one implemented by low-cost air carriers, which has been hugely successful.
If Spain’s AVLO service becomes a roaring success like France’s low-cost, high-speed option has been, look for more and more countries with strong rail networks to implement this idea in the future.
