Ready for a revival

Daytime high-speed train journeys have become increasingly popular in mainland Europe, but further competition is needed to encourage growth

- ALEX MCWHIRTER

France’s TGVs ushered in the era of high-speed rail across Europe 40 years ago. Since then the Alstom TGV and its rivals from Germany and Italy have expanded their networks across mainland Europe. In fact, it was faster daytime trains which led to the decline of night trains across Europe, which thankfully now see a revival – see our feature Night trains: Sleeping Giant – in the last issue of Business Traveller (or at businesstraveller.com)

The number of travellers using daytime high-speed rail had grown substantially over the past 40 years until the pandemic arrived. Passenger numbers have not yet recovered. As background, almost all high-speed rail, domestic and international, is in the hands of state-owned incumbents, so competition is limited and it is competition that drives rail growth.

This year is the European Year of Rail and one nation, Spain, opened its borders to high-speed competition with positive results. Spain’s Renfe must now compete with France’s in 2022 when Ilsa – a joint venture between Trenitalia (45 per cent share) and Air Nostrum – appears on the scene. Ilsa will be deploying Frecciarossa 1000 trainsets of Trenitalia. One of these is currently in Spain awaiting certification.

This competition represents a bright spot in high-speed rail with new services and lower fares resulting in major traffic growth. Renfe has had to respond with its own Avlo high-speed units and these, combined with SNCF’s Ouigo ES trainsets, have grown a market previously monopolised by Renfe’s conventional AVE services.