Travelling at high speed now costs half as much as five years ago due to liberalization

BarcelonaTraveling from Barcelona to Madrid by high-speed train now costs 44% less than five years ago, when the sector's liberalization began. Although prices have rebounded this year by 9% compared to 2025, the ticket price is now clearly lower than in 2019, according to data from Trainline, the train and bus ticket sales platform.

The trend that liberalization – and increased sector competition – has driven prices down is also confirmed in the rest of the main corridors. Traveling from Madrid to Malaga, for example, costs less than half (52% less), and the same applies from the Spanish capital to Valladolid (51% cheaper) or from Madrid to Cordoba, Alicante, Valencia, or Seville, where prices have become cheaper by between 38% and 43%.

Adamuz's high-speed accident, at the end of last JanuaryThe data on increased demand also corroborate this. According to studies by this platform, high-speed train travelers have grown by 42% (4.8 million new travelers) compared to the period before liberalization, meaning before other operators besides Renfe, such as the French Ouigo or the Italian Iryo, were allowed to enter the Spanish market. In fact, high-speed rail closed last year, 2025, with a record number of travelers (43.8 million), 12% more than the previous year. These are new travelers coming primarily from road and air travel.

In this regard, the Madrid-Barcelona corridor has become one of the clearest examples of the train's advancement over the airplane for medium-distance travel. "Liberalization has transformed the Spanish railway market. Travelers now have more options, more frequencies, and, in most corridors, significantly lower prices," insisted the Trainline representative.

A turbulent start to 2026 for the railway network

The high-speed accident in Adamuz, at the end of last January, caused passenger figures to falter at the beginning of 2026. In the thirty days following the collision between the Alvia and the Iryo due to a part of the track breaking, demand plummeted by 30%. Little by little, however, it seems that users are regaining confidence: according to the platform's calculations, since Easter there has been a significant upturn towards rail travel. "There is a gradual recovery," explained García. It has also been influenced, nuances the head of Trainline, by the fact that the war in Iran has pushed up the price of oil and kerosene and, therefore, the price of airline tickets.