Passenger numbers on Spain’s high-speed rail services continued to rise in 2025, while increased competition between operators helped bring down fares on the country’s main routes.
Data from Spain’s National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) show that 44.5 million passengers used commercial high-speed rail services in 2025. That was 12% more than in 2024 and twice the figure recorded in 2019, the last year before both the pandemic and the liberalisation of the market.
Across all railway services in Spain, there were 547 million passenger journeys, up 0.3% on 2024 and 5% above the 2019 level. The vast majority of these journeys were made on suburban Cercanías services.
The liberalisation of Spain’s high-speed rail market has significantly changed the sector, giving passengers a choice between several operators and increasing competition on the country’s busiest corridors.
Competition brings more passengers to Spain’s main rail corridors
The corridors opened to competition recorded passenger growth of 10–14% in 2025, with one major exception: Madrid–Barcelona. Passenger numbers on this route fell by 1.7% compared with 2024, marking the first decline since the market was liberalised.
The busiest high-speed corridors were:
- Madrid–Barcelona: 14.4 million passengers;
- Madrid–Valencia: 6.2 million;
- Madrid–Seville: 5.9 million;
- Madrid–Málaga: 5.8 million;
- Madrid–Alicante: 4.5 million.
The arrival of Ouigo on the Madrid–Seville and Madrid–Málaga corridors in January 2025 had a noticeable effect on the market. The company became the third operator on these routes, with the regulator estimating that ticket prices fell by 12% following its entry.
High-speed rail fares fall by around 40%
Compared with the situation before liberalisation in 2019, fares have fallen significantly in real terms.
After adjusting for inflation, fares were 50% lower on the Madrid–Valencia route and around 40% lower on the other corridors analysed. The 50% figure therefore applies specifically to Madrid–Valencia and does not represent the average reduction across the entire market.
In 2025, the average fare was:
- Madrid–Barcelona: €52.89;
- Madrid–Valencia: €27.04;
- Madrid–Seville: €38.41;
- Madrid–Málaga: €37.61;
- Madrid–Alicante: €31.34;
- Madrid–Zaragoza: €41.57.
Madrid–Barcelona followed a different pattern. Fares increased by 15.2% between 2024 and 2025, and the route was the only one analysed where ticket revenue exceeded costs, by 6%.
Infrastructure access charges also represented a substantial share of operators’ costs: 46% on Madrid–Barcelona, 38% on the corridors to Andalusia and 30% on the Levante corridors.
Renfe remains the market leader, but rivals are gaining ground
Market-share data for the final quarter of 2025, published in March 2026, provide a clearer picture of competition between the three main operators: Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo.
Behind the two newer competitors are major European transport groups. Iryo is 51% owned by Trenitalia, Italy’s state-owned railway company, while Air Nostrum holds 25% and Globalvia 24%. Ouigo España is wholly owned by France’s SNCF.
During the fourth quarter, Renfe retained more than 60% of passengers on every competitive corridor, with two exceptions: Madrid–Valencia, where it held 51%, and Madrid–Barcelona, where it held 56%.
On Madrid–Barcelona, Renfe lost 6 percentage points of market share, while Ouigo gained 4 points to reach 19% and Iryo gained 2 points to reach 24%.
On Madrid–Seville, Ouigo gained another 6 percentage points, while Renfe lost 4 points and Iryo 2.
Ouigo also gained 6 percentage points on Madrid–Alicante, following Iryo’s withdrawal of its summer service.
Across the whole of 2025, Renfe remained the leading operator, with market shares ranging from 50% to 67% on competitive corridors. Iryo reached 20–26%, depending on the route, while Ouigo held 13–14% on the southern corridors.
High-speed rail gains ground against air travel
Liberalisation has not simply redistributed passengers between competing railway companies. Rail has also attracted travellers who might previously have chosen to fly.
Spain’s high-speed rail services increased their share against air transport on the main corridors, with particularly significant gains on Madrid–Seville and Madrid–Málaga.
Even on Madrid–Barcelona, where rail had its lowest share among the main corridors analysed, trains accounted for 83.1% of the market.
For comparison, the rail shares recorded on the main routes in 2024 were:
| Route | Rail share |
| Madrid–Barcelona | 81.5% |
| Madrid–Valencia | 93.3% |
| Madrid–Seville | 90.4% |
| Madrid–Málaga | 82.0% |
| Madrid–Alicante | 89.1% |
The next step: opening regional rail to competition
While the high-speed market has already been opened to competition, Spain is also considering how the same process could be applied to suburban and medium-distance rail services.
Cercanías and Media Distancia account for more than 90% of all rail journeys in Spain, with around 500 million passenger journeys each year. Almost 450 million are made on Cercanías services, while approximately 50 million are made on medium-distance routes.
These services are subject to public service obligations (PSOs) and are largely operated by companies such as Renfe.
A competitive tendering system could improve efficiency, service quality and cost control. However, the length of contracts, the size of individual lots and the conditions imposed on operators could make it harder for new companies to enter the market.
Access to railway infrastructure, rolling stock, maintenance facilities and qualified staff are also issues that would need to be addressed.
If Cercanías and Media Distancia services continue to be operated mainly by Renfe without competitive tenders allowing other operators to enter the market, the wider liberalisation process could be delayed until 2033.
Iryo expands as Alsa enters the tourist rail market
Competition continued to develop in 2026. In April, Iryo was cleared to operate on the Madrid–Ciudad Real–Puertollano route, where Renfe already provides conventional medium-distance and Avant high-speed services.
Iryo has requested permission to run six services in each direction every day. The regulator concluded that the new service would not significantly affect the financial balance of the public-service contract between Renfe and the Ministry of Transport.
The estimated impact on the contract’s revenue is just 0.0314%. Including the impact of other services previously assessed, the cumulative effect reaches 0.28%, below the 1% threshold used to determine whether a new service could have a significant impact.
Iryo does not directly compete with every Renfe service on the route. Conventional Renfe trains make more intermediate stops and take longer, while Avant services are frequently used by passengers who benefit from multi-trip tickets and season passes. The new Iryo service could therefore attract mainly occasional travellers.
The same decision also cleared two tourist rail services operated by Alsa, one of Spain’s major passenger transport companies, best known for its bus network but also active in the railway sector.
The Expreso de Canfranc and Felipe II tourist trains use historic rolling stock, operate at relatively low frequencies and charge higher fares than regular public services. They are therefore not considered to compete directly with Renfe’s public services or materially affect the financial balance of its public-service contract.
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