Skift Take
Spain introduced a number of successful initiatives to boost tourist ridership, but airline strikes that recently stalled flights also contributed to what is expected to be Renfe’s best year yet.
Spain’s Ministry of Transport this week reported that ridership on Renfe AVE services has risen 14% year-on-year in the last four months to 4.7 million passengers, following an 11% cut in all tourist class tickets in early February.
The fare cuts were introduced as part of a raft of measures including the launch of 10-trip passes, an increase in tickets sold by yield management, and the introduction of more flexibility in return tickets, with the aimed of stemming the decline in high-speed passenger numbers, which fell 2.6% last year.
Tags: high-speed rail, spain
Photo Credit: A Spanish high-speed train at Barcelona Sants Station. Ricardo Ricote Rodríguez / Flickr
