Renfe has issued up to 900 passes per minute this Saturday on the first day of issuance of these free Cercanías, Rodalies, proximity and Media Distancia services to travel until April 30.
This has been specified by the railway company, which has also informed Europa Press that the process is developing "normally" on this first day in which users can obtain the new free passes, after approval by the Government of the extension of this measure, which has been in force since September 2022.
The free payment will be applied throughout the year, although for periods of four months, and it will be necessary to obtain a new subscription in each of these periods. You will have to continue paying 10 euros as a deposit, which is returned if more than 16 trips have been made, or 20 euros in the case of Media Distancia.
To speed up the acquisition of passes and avoid unnecessary waits, Renfe recommends purchasing passes through the Cercanías Renfe app or, in the case of Media Distancia and Avant passes, through the website www.renfe.com.
For Avant (High Speed Medium Distance) rail services, the 50% discount has also been extended, which will also apply to other high-speed routes that have been declared Public Service Obligation (PSO).
Likewise, free Media Distancia passes may be used on Avant services in the Madrid-Salamanca point-to-point relationship and on the high-performance lines A Coruña-Ourense and Murcia-Alicante.
Regarding the proximity services of the Palma del Río-Villa del Río, Illescas-Fuenlabrada, Málaga-El Chorro-Caminito del Rey, Murcia-Cartagena and Medina del Campo-Valladolid-Palencia lines, by 2024 they will be applicable the conditions of the Cercanías tickets, so the deposit will be 10 euros.
After the problems detected last year of people who do not make good use of Media Distancia passes, reserving many seats and finally only traveling on one or none, Renfe has reinforced the reservation mechanisms.
Thus, on Medium Distance routes by conventional route, Renfe has extended to one hour (currently it is 10 minutes) the time in which a reservation must be formalized or, if the trip is not made, cancelled.
In this way, users who are not going to use the space reserved with the passes must cancel it at least 60 minutes in advance. If, on at least three occasions, they have not canceled the place with the aforementioned notice, they will lose the right to acquire new season tickets during the following 30 days.
Previously, Renfe will send the traveler, on the occasion of the first two cancellations not made with the minimum required notice, communications to the contact provided by them, warning them of the possible consequences.
The company is also preparing additional measures for the Medium Distance High Speed trains, Avant, which will come into force on March 1, 2024 and which will be reported in the coming weeks on the lines on which these services are provided.
Furthermore, to encourage the proper use of these subsidized tickets, Renfe will launch a public awareness campaign starting in the second week of January, emphasizing that the misuse of the passes is detrimental to the rest of the citizens who wish to carry out their movements.
Additionally, Renfe will carry out random checks on its Media Distancia and Avant services to verify the correct use of the subsidized tickets. If non-compliance with the regulations is detected, the anti-fraud measures established in these services will be applied.
