More than thirty years after the AVE began operating in Andalusia, the high-speed train from the private company Iryo becomes the first Renfe competitor to travel the railways of Córdoba, Seville and Málaga, cities to which from today These trains arrive that will connect them with Madrid from 18 euros each way.
In the inauguration ceremony that took place in the Andalusian capital, the Minister of the Presidency of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, celebrated the railway liberalization that the arrival of Iryo means in the community and described it as a "giant step ".
"Competition means modernity, it means push, it forces transformation, improvement and, in short, it is always healthy in any market," says the Andalusian director.
The mayor of Seville, Antonio Muñoz, has underlined the "good news" that the increase in connections between cities entails and, also, the increase in competition, since, as he has expressed, it can lead to an improvement in services.
In addition, Muñoz has stressed that Iryo's offer comes at the "ideal" and "very opportune" moment from the point of view of tourism and business, within the context of growth after the pandemic.
For his part, the president of Iryo, Carlos Bertomeu, has assured that with their services they will double the current offer to Seville, Malaga and Córdoba and, in addition, has stressed that their prices are "really competitive" and offer a "differential" service ", since their trains are "new and state-of-the-art" and they have worked to have "a personalized service in the complete customer travel experience."
The pre-booking of their trips to Andalusia is "really good" and "better" than those they made for their trips to Barcelona and Valencia, says Bertomeu.
The three Andalusian routes begin operating tomorrow with four daily services, two in each direction, with the aim of reaching, as of June, 12 in the case of Seville, 10 in Malaga (two with a stop in Antequera) and 22 in Córdoba .
The company has stated that they offer schedules from early in the morning until late at night, with competitive prices in the four classes they offer (Infinita Bistró, Singular Only YOU, Singular and Initial) and flexibility in the policy changes and cancellation of the tickets.
The Iryo brand, with its striking red trains, began operations in Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante, and they plan to continue opening new destinations this year, as they will arrive in Antequera (Málaga), Alicante and Albacete on June 2 and, Tarragona, on the 15th of the same month.
The company's investment for its deployment in Andalusia has been more than one billion euros, which have been mainly used for the purchase of trains, a new fleet made up of 20 "Frecciarossa" trains, "red arrow", in Spanish .
Iryo, owned by the shareholders of Air Nostrum and by Trenitalia, plans to have a direct contribution to the Andalusian economy of 28.7 million euros in wages and regional taxes in 2025, and the creation of a total of 660 direct jobs and indirect between ground, crew, operations, maintenance and administrative personnel in this same period.
In addition, in 2025 the more than 2.5 million passengers that Iryo expects to mobilize from or to the stations of Seville-Santa Justa, Málaga-María Zambrano and Córdoba will generate tourist spending of 338 million euros.
As stated by the president of Iryo, the 20 trains with which the company will operate are the "most sustainable", fast and silent in Europe, are made with 95% recyclable materials and save 80% of carbon dioxide per person and journey.
The interior of the trains is divided into four comfort zones aimed at all types of travelers and differentiated according to the needs of each passenger, since, for example, the Infinita Bistro, Singular Only YOU and Singular classes are aimed at the corporate sector .
