iryo, the first privately owned high-speed rail operator in Spain launches today

The inaugural service of iryo, the first privately owned high-speed rail operator in Spain, will depart from Madrid to Valencia today.

Delivered by a consortium between the Spanish airline Air Nostrum, the train company Trenitalia, one of the great European leaders in rail transport with extensive experience in operating high-speed routes and Globalvia leaders in managing transport infrastructure concessions and mobility services, iryo will deliver services in Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Cordoba, Malaga, and Seville.

ALLRAIL, the Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants in Europe’s secretary general Nick Brooks will be on the first service today. He said: “It is great to see how commercially driven Open Access services – such as iryo – are making long-distance rail more attractive and winning travellers away from less sustainable transport modes, namely airlines and cars.”

There needs to be competition between different operators on all high-speed rail routes in Europe. Companies like iryo are the Future of Passenger Rail.

Destinations will be introduced on a rolling basis, and by June 2023 iryo will be serving Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia, Sevilla, Málaga, Córdoba, Alicante and Cuenca as well as some intermediate towns such as Albacete. In time, iryo has a long-term vision for cross-border routes.

Hitachi-Bombardier ETR 1000 trains will cover the line, and are billed to be the fastest, most modern, and most sustainable trains in Europe. Completely silent, the vehicles reach 360 kilometres per hour.

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