High-speed trains between key Spanish and French cities will start running this summer, with the ultimate goal of setting up a rail connection that goes all the way to Paris.
Spanish national rail company Renfe announced that starting from 13 July this year, the first service between Barcelona and the French city of Lyon will be launched, connecting the stations of Barcelona Sants, Girona, Figueres Vilafant, Perpignan, Narbonne, Béziers, Montpellier-St-Roch, Nîmes, Valence TGV and Lyon Part Dieu.
The service will start running from Friday to Monday on the Lyon-Barcelona corridor, except for the first day of service, which will be a Thursday, and will depart Barcelona at 8:22 in the morning to return from Lyon at 14:30. "The journey time of the entire route will be five hours," the company noted.
Small cost for big distances
As part of the launch campaign, tickets for travel within France – to Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Avignon, Béziers, Aix-en-Provence or Narbonne – will go on sale for just €9 on the French market on 21 June.
Prices for tickets for international routes will not cost much more, the company announced. "There will be two introductory prices for international routes: €19 to travel from Montpellier or Narbonne to Barcelona, Zaragoza or Madrid and €29 for the complete route, from Marseille and Lyon to Spain."
While these introductory prices will be temporary, it is hoped that in the medium-to-long term it aims to make sure fares are cheaper than those sold by French railway company SNCF.
Since December 2021, the Italian operator Trenitalia, SNCF's only current competitor, has also been linking Paris, Lyon and Milan. This summer will mark the first time that a Spanish train service will provide a commercial service on French territory.
Two weeks later, on 28 July, Spanish high-speed trains between Madrid and Marseille will also begin operating, stopping at Guadalajara Yebes, Zaragoza Delicias, Camp de Tarragona, Barcelona Sants, Girona, Figueres Vilafant, Perpignan, Narbonne, Béziers, Montpellier-St-Roch, Nîmes, Avignon-TGV, Aix-en-Provence TGV and Marseille-St Charles.
This service will also run from Friday to Monday, in the first stage, but from September on the Lyon route and in October on the Marseilles route, Renfe will start operating these trains from Monday to Sunday, offering 28 weekly services.
"In the short term, Renfe wants to become a reference in the French railway market, and obtain the safety certificate that will allow it to extend its high-speed operations to other connections, such as Lyon-Paris," the company said.
