Business · Companies · 20 hrs ago
Spanish rail disruption cuts high-speed ticket revenue by €100 million
Months of disruption on Spain’s rail network have hit ticket sales and travel across the country.
Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo took in €703.63 million from high-speed tickets in the first half of 2026, down €100.67 million, or 12.5%, from a year earlier.
The transport regulator says high-speed passenger numbers fell 15.3%, to 18.66 million.
Closures, speed limits and cancellations followed the Adamuz rail disaster in January, which killed 46 people, but the revenue drop cannot be attributed to that crash alone; bad weather and other infrastructure problems also affected services.
The Madrid-Seville line was closed for a month, while the Madrid-Málaga line reopened in April, initially using only one track.
Adif, which charges operators to use the rail network, is also affected by the fall in services and ticket income.
Óscar Puente’s proposed safety measures have no stated budget, and Carlos Cuerpo is temporarily handling the transport portfolio until a new minister is appointed after the November 29 elections.
Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo earned €100.67 million less from high-speed tickets in the first half of 2026 than in the same period a year earlier.
Their combined ticket revenue fell from €804.3 million to €703.63 million, a drop of 12.5%, according to sector data cited by El Mundo.
High-speed passenger numbers fell by 3.37 million, or 15.3%, to 18.66 million, according to Spain’s competition authority.
Months of closures, speed restrictions and cancellations disrupted services, particularly on routes connecting Madrid with Andalusia.
- Who
- Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo, the high-speed rail operators.
- What
- Their combined high-speed ticket revenue fell by €100.67 million in the first half of 2026.
- When
- The first half of 2026, compared with the first half of 2025.
- Where
- Spain’s high-speed rail network.
- Why
- Closures, speed restrictions and cancellations disrupted rail services. The sources describe several contributing problems and do not attribute the full revenue decline to one incident.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The Madrid–Seville line closed after the Adamuz rail disaster.
The Madrid–Seville line reopened.
The Madrid–Málaga line reopened, initially using only one track.
High-speed ticket revenue for Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo totalled €703.63 million, down 12.5% from a year earlier.
- Ticket revenue decline
- €100.67 million
- Combined ticket revenue
- €703.63 million in the first half of 2026
- Revenue change
- Down 12.5% from the first half of 2025
- High-speed passengers
- 18.66 million, down 3.37 million year on year
- Madrid–Málaga line reopening
- 30 April, initially on one track