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ILSA will go for a 30% share in high speed compared to Renfe and Ouigo

2021-01-28T08:52:43.324Z


It is proposed to compete with the public operator in cross-border traffic With the letters from Renfe and Ouigo (SNCF) on the table, the third competitor in high-speed rail services expected in Spain, ILSA, is advancing in the design of a strategic plan with which it will present a battle on various fronts. The operator participated by the shareholders of Air Nostrum (55%) and Trenitalia (45%) aspires to a market share of 30% in the first three corridors in which it ha


With the letters from

Renfe and Ouigo

(SNCF) on the table, the third competitor in high-speed rail services expected in Spain, ILSA, is advancing in the design of a strategic plan with which it will present a battle on various fronts.

The operator participated by the shareholders of

Air Nostrum

(55%) and

Trenitalia

(45%) aspires to a market share of 30% in the first three corridors in which it has committed to act: Madrid-Barcelona, ​​Madrid-Levante and Madrid-South.

That third of the volume of travelers is above the capacity awarded by the company after winning the B package that Adif put into play last year.

Renfe has package A and Ouigo will develop the one with the smallest capacity, the C.

In four to six months, starting from the premiere in the second half of 2022, it plans to be on the three axes of high speed

If the SNCF subsidiary plans to enter its

low-cost

offer

on May 10 on the Madrid-Barcelona axis, ILSA intends to roll on the three main high-speed lines on a date to be determined in the second half of 2022.

The premiere and deployment will depend on the availability of the trains, but the company chaired by Carlos Bartomeu and directed by Fabrizio Favara and Víctor Bañares will have 23 units of the Frecciarosa 1000 that Treintalia has ordered from

Hitachi Bombardier

.

The investment will be 800 million.

ILSA will start in Madrid-Barcelona and expects to have a presence four to six months later in the high speed to Andalusia and on the line that connects Madrid with Valencia and Alicante.

While Ouigo still has to smooth technical barriers in its Alstom Eurodúplex trains to run through Madrid-Sur, those of ILSA will be equipped to interact with the

LZB

communications and signaling

system

.

Adif plans to replace the latter with ERTMS, but this work will take several years.

In a first phase, ILSA will operate 32 daily routes between Madrid and Barcelona (16 frequencies in each direction), which will allow it to offer trips every hour.

Aimed at both the leisure and business public, the third of the competitors to achieve liberalization will have no choice but to enter the battle of prices already raised by Renfe and Ouigo with their low-cost services.

But ILSA intends to model a successful offer based on value-added services and a network of alliances with other mobility operators.

Jump to other businesses

Sources familiar with ILSA's plans point out that their effort will not remain in competing with Renfe and Ouigo on three axes.

In addition to analyzing its possibilities on other high-speed lines as they join the network, the company is

open to carrying out cross-border traffic and participating in public services (OSP)

, commuter and medium distance, if the Government liberalizes an attractive package.

The Ministry of Transport is testing the appetite of potential operators for subsidized services.

The question is whether there is interest in competing with Renfe and what type of opening is desirable: a percentage in the entire network or a relevant package at some point in the country.

That moment will come between 2023 and 2026, when the liberalization,

almost as a test

, of a small percentage of rail transport subject to OSP

is planned

.

In Spain, the CNMC has demanded on different occasions that the direct award of the OSP to Renfe not be extended.

European regulations set December 2023 for these services to be tendered, which in Spain were entrusted to Renfe in 2018 for ten years, until 2027, as allowed by Regulation 2016/2338 (limits the duration of the contracts granted to ten years by direct award prior to December 2023).

Additionally, Transportes has the capacity to extend this relationship with Renfe for another five years.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-01-28

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