Spain’s National Markets and Competition Commission, CNMC, has authorized a new set of high-speed services operated by iris, a joint venture backed by Air Nostrum, Trenitalia, and Globalviato. The plan adds four new routes to the country’s rail network.
In a Monday statement, CNMC announced that the operator will run journeys linking Madrid with Cuenca, Madrid with Albacete, Albacete with Cuenca, and Barcelona with Camp de Tarragona. The regulator underscored that these decisions do not compromise the 2018-2027 public service contract between the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda and Renfe Viajeros. The ministry itself supported the balance assessment, confirming that the new services should be evaluated for their impact on the contract while Iris aims to expand its presence on these corridors.
The CNMC concluded that existing Conventional Medium Range services offered by Renfe do not substitute for Iris’s high-speed services, noting that the latter offer shorter travel times. When it comes to Avant services, Iris acknowledges some similarity in technical features, but differences remain in frequency and pricing. Avant operates with a denser timetable and a broader range of travel passes, making it more competitive on several routes than Iris anticipated.
The sole route where Iris’s high-speed service competes directly with OSP offerings is the Barcelona-Camp de Tarragona corridor, where Iris has priced tickets lower than Renfe’s Avant fare on some departures. The CNMC calculated that Iris’s entry could have a modest effect on Renfe’s revenue from the OSP contract, estimating a potential impact far below 1 percent of the total contract value.
Additionally, CNMC noted Renfe’s Avlo high-speed services, which operate under public service obligations with distinct pricing. The regulator emphasized that Avlo’s pricing structure is a factor in assessing the overall balance of the high-speed fleet and how Iris’s routes might interact with those obligations.
Iris has now become the third rail operator to compete in Spain, following recent liberalization that introduced new players to a market once dominated by Renfe. Iris previously launched Madrid-Valencia and Madrid-Zaragoza-Valencia services and has signaled intentions to extend to further lines, including Madrid-Málaga, as the network expands in the coming years. These moves reflect a broader shift toward increased competition in Spain’s long-distance rail sector, with regulators closely watching the implications for service quality, pricing, and the public service framework in place across the country.