Spain’s national rail operator RENFE, which has recently laid out plans for more international connections to neighboring France and Portugal has now set up a French subsidiary that will allow it to serve routes entirely within France.
The new subsidiary is based at Lyon’s Part-Dieu station, and its initial routes will serve Barcelona and Madrid from Lyon. But its status as a French-registered company will allow it to also sell tickets to Marseille, which is on the route to the Spanish cities, as well as run services between Lyon and other French cities including southern destinations like Nimes, Montpelier and Avignon as well as potentially reaching north to Paris and Brussels.
Tickets for the initial routes will be on sale within days. RENFE is one of the largest European operators of high-speed lines, with Spain having the largest network. RENFE’s new Talgo Avril trains, just coming into service, are rated for the highest normal running speed of any European high-speed trains.
