While train travel has never gone out of fashion, with high-profile environmental activists like Greta Thunberg refusing to fly because of carbon emissions, it seems that train travel, in Europe particularly, is experiencing an upsurge.
Sweden’s Trafikverket (rail infrastructure manager) announced that it plans to add overnight sleeper trains that will run from Malmö to the German city of Cologne. From there, travellers will be able to connect to the UK and other cities on the Eurostar service. The overnight service from Malmö, which is planned for 2022 or 2023, is part of the country’s plans to provide alternatives to short-haul flights to help combat climate change.
Spain has just introduced a new low-cost, high-speed rail line between Barcelona and Madrid (about 600km apart) with prices starting from just €10 (R164) each way. The service will commence in April and will be about 60% cheaper than the price of existing AVE high-speed trains (where one-way tickets between the two cities start from €32.30/about R530). The new line run by Renfe, the national rail company, is known as AVLO.
Renfe launched a promotion on Monday, which runs through to Wednesday 5 February, offering 1,000 tickets per day on the new AVLO line at just €5. The tickets will be valid for travel between 6 April and 31 August, including Easter and the peak summer season.
Spain’s new AVO train that will run between Madrid and Barcelona. Image credit: Renfe
Renfe’s website had over 1.5 million visits in the first hour of the promotion, according to El País.
Unrelated to the promotion, children under 14 pay half-price when travelling with an adult.
Also read: New safari train between Victoria Falls and Bulawayo
Image: Unsplash
