Adif has authorized the French private rail transport company Ouigo to operate on the AVE line between Murcia and Madrid from the first half of 2024. “a big breakthrough” For the city and the region, as approved by the mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta.
The mayor led the political initiative to achieve this goal by negotiating with the company, the National Competition Market Commission (CNMC), the Government Delegation and the Ministry of Transport.
“We worked across institutions, regardless of their political colour. And when we Murcians decided to work together on something, we showed that we succeeded,” he stressed.
According to that, “The arrival of Ouigo represents a major advance for Murcia, which is removing the limitations it has in terms of locations, schedules and frequencies with its current AVE service”.
Ballesta led the political initiative so that this company could use the high-speed train line between Murcia and Madrid. The mayor has carried out various actions in the last two months to achieve this goal.
So on June 25, he held a meeting with Helene Valenzuela, the managing director of the company, and expressed with assurance that the company is fully willing to operate on the Murcia line, as it has already done in Alicante and Valencia. It will be a “commercial success”.
In parallel, Murcia City Council submitted a letter to the National Competition Market Commission (CNMC) in favor of the liberalization of the railway business and made arrangements with the head of Adif. María Luisa Domínguez for Ouigo to get permission. Ballesta and Domínguez will meet on September 7 in Madrid.
Likewise, the mayor was in frequent contact with the delegate. Government of the Region of Murcia, Francisco Jiménez, “who has been with this goal from the beginning”. “We worked between institutions, regardless of their political colour. And when we Murcians decided to work together on something, we showed that we succeeded”, stressed the mayor of Murcia.
14,000 places per week
The arrival of Ouigo, scheduled for May 2024, will mean the Murcians have an offer. 14,000 seats per week to travel with AVE To Madrid, which has been added to the offer that Renfe has had since last December.
The private operator will offer 4 frequencies per day (two outbound and two return) with the Spanish capital, and with only one intermediate stop, the journey can be completed in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Likewise, prices will be much more competitive, with ticket prices starting at 9 euros.