Renfe will compete to exploit the largest number of train circulations in the AVE to Barcelona and the other two High Speed ​​corridors that in December 2020 are open to competition and the entry of other operators. The public company says that this will mean providing an offer of 104 daily trains on these three lines, 20% higher than the current one, according to the company.

Renfe has approved in its board of directors the proposal of services that will be presented to Adif on October 31, the deadline for companies interested in entering the AVE before their liberalization to submit their requests for network capacity. The public company that currently holds the monopoly of passenger transport by train will propose to Adif a "maximum framework agreement" to qualify for the "totality" of the so-called 'A' package.

This is the largest of the three packages of different number of frequencies and services that Adif proposes for the three main AVE corridors, the one that connects Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the one that links Madrid with Seville and Malaga, and the AVE to Levante.

The package 'A', which from the beginning was considered as the 'reserved' for Renfe, contemplates the daily circulation of 104 trains through these AVE lines. Of these, 32 trains a day correspond to the corridor to Barcelona, ​​another 32 to the one in Levante and the remaining 40, to Seville.

The public operator ensures that with its willingness to keep this offer it seeks to "remain the operator that offers the most services to travelers" and "maintain its position as a reference company in rail transport in Spain."

In addition, the company chaired by Isaías Táboas believes that it will "optimize" its fleet and "offer the market better travel opportunities."

Renfe is currently developing a strategic plan to prepare for this market opening and loss of monopoly. Among other measures, the plan includes the launch of AVE 'low cost' next Easter and the commitment to digitalization.

The company will have to face at the end of 2020 the entry of at least two competitors, those that keep the other two train frequency packages that Adif proposes.

The second of these packages, the so-called 'B' and medium-sized, presents an offer of 16 daily trains in each of the three corridors, and the small package, the 'C', involves putting five daily trains into circulation in each one of the three referred AVE lines.

Talgo, Ilsa (company of the family that owns Air Nostrum) and the French public operator SNCF are among the companies that are considering submitting their capacity requests to the network on December 31, that is, competing for any of these Two service packages.

Once all applications are received, Adif plans to select the companies that will operate each of the three service packages next December. Whenever, in all likelihood, Renfe keeps the major, the process will allow two private operators to begin competing with the public company in the AVE in December 2020.