High Speed Train Service Will Link Elche And Madrid In 2024

THE firm in charge of the management of the Spanish railway infrastructures, Adif, has provisionally allowed Ouigo, a low-cost operator that is part of the French group SNCF, to offer a high speed train service between Madrid, Elche and Murcia from 2024.

It is expected that this provisional authorisation will become final when the Spanish company confirms it in October of this year, as Adif does not foresee any change in formalities, reported El Pais on Wednesday, August 16.

The train will take a total of two hours and 20 minutes to reach Elche and will have four journeys, two each way, early and late in the day.

At the moment, the company has ruled out including Orihuela in the planned stops.

It will link Elche with Madrid with trains with prices from €9 per journey, which is around the same as what Renfe offers in both terms of time and price.

Elche will link directly to Madrid with more than 14,000 seats a week.

In addition, children under 14 years old will travel for €5, and children from 0 to 3 years old will be free.

Ouigo also report that the capacity of about 2,000 passengers per day could multiply in high seasons such as summer, Easter or Christmas, when the company’s train carriages can be increased in number until availability is doubled.

Although the date of the first train from Madrid to Elche is still not clear, the company is confident that they will be running in spring, and certainly before the summer of 2024.

The first trip will be celebrated with promotions of reduced tickets, concerts and events in the city.

Tickets for the high-speed train cannot yet be purchased, but the company said that they will go on sale more than a month before the first departure date.

The stop in Madrid will be at Chamartín station.