Avlo

Avlo (Spanish pronunciation: [aβ'lo], short for Alta Velocidad Low Cost literally "No Frills High Speed" ) is the name of a proposed Spanish low-cost high-speed rail service, at the start between of the cities of Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona by the national rail company Renfe. Plans for such a low-cost high speed service were reported in February 2018, with the goal of running by 2019.[1] However, it was held up and new sets of proposals for the service were announced on 11 December 2019, for starting in 6 April 2020.[2]

Avlo
Franchise(s)Wholly owned subsidiary of Renfe
Main station(s)Madrid Atocha, Barcelona Sants
Other station(s)Zaragoza-Delicias
Stations called at3
Parent companyRenfe
Other
Websiteavlorenfe.com

On the 15 March 2020 Renfe announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the launch of the service would be postponed until further notice.[3] Customers who had paid a promotional fare of €5 were given the option to travel at a later date, while non-promotional tickets were refunded in full.

Avlo services between Madrid, Barcelona and Figueres on the French border will now commence on 23 June 2021.Three daily services in each direction will run between Madrid and Barcelona, while a fourth service stopping in Guadalajara, Calatayud, Saragossa, Lleida, Tarragona, Barcelona, Girona and terminating in Figueras. As in the previous attempt to launch this service, promotional ticket prices start at €5.

History

Based the popularity of the French low-cost high-speed rail service Ouigo that was introduced in 2013 by French national rail company SNCF, and keen to encourage train travel on the Spanish high-speed rail network. Renfe was interested setting up their own such budget service, provisionally named "eva", the name of the Renfe's own high-speed train service, AVE, spelt backwards. The service was announced on 6 February 2018 by the then Minister of Public Works Íñigo de la Serna,[4] and was aimed to be operational by the first quarter of 2019. The plan was for trains to run between Madrid and less frequently used AVE stations in Catalonia, namely Camp de Tarragona and El Prat de Llobregat, the latter only around 10 km from Barcelona's Sants terminus. This concept resembles the strategy of Avlo's potential low-cost competitor Ouigo, which goes to Tourcoing rather than the larger ststion Lille-Europe.

After a series of delays, Renfe went back to the drawing board; with the prospect of new competitors operating as of late 2020, such as the airline Air Nostrum, the Italian rail company Trenitalia, and Ouigo, a subsidiary of French rail company SNCF, Renfe felt obliged to revive the plans for a low-cost rail service of their own.[5][6] Renfe relaunched their low-cost high-speed service on the 11 December 2019, with services planned to begin during the 2020 Easter holidays. Avlo was set to run between the stations Madrid Atocha, Zaragoza Delicias and Barcelona Sants.[7] In contrast with earlier plans, the service was to stop in Zaragoza rather than Tarragona.

Background

The Avlo service would consists of modified purple-coloured Talgo AVE trains. They will use the future Service 106 train with 581 seats, or a Service 112 trains will be upgraded to 438 seats both in all-second class configuration.[8] Renfe has reported it is going to price tickets of the Avlo as low as €10, compared to the lowest offer of €48 for the normal AVE ticket for Madrid and Barcelona.[9]

See also
  • Ouigo - the French low-cost high speed rail service
  • IZY - A low-cost high-speed rail service between Paris and Brussels

References
  1. "Spain launches new 'low-cost' high speed train between Madrid and Barcelona". The Local Spain. 2018-02-06. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  2. "Introducing Avlo: Spain's new low-cost, high-speed (bright purple) rail service". The Local Spain. 2019-12-11. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  3. "Renfe implantará un nuevo plan de transporte para ajustar su oferta a las condiciones dictadas por el Gobierno". Renfe (in Spanish). 2020-03-15.
  4. "De la Serna presenta el nuevo concepto de Smart Train de Renfe: Eva - Noticias - Sala de Prensa - Ministerio de Fomento". www.fomento.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  5. 2019-12-11T15:55:00+00:00. "RENFE to launch Avlo low-cost high speed rail for everyone". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  6. Doncel, Luis (2019-04-10). "Could France's state rail operator bring "low-cost" train travel to Spain?". El País. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
  7. UK. "Renfe unveils Avlo low-cost high-speed brand". Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  8. "AVLO, Renfe's first low cost train in Spain". Mediarail.be - Rail Europe News. 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
  9. Muñoz, Ramón (2019-12-16). "Introducing Spain's new low-cost AVE: €10 tickets for Barcelona to Madrid". El País. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
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