Renfe

History

The name "Renfe" (acronym of Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles) is derived from that of the former Spanish National Railway Network created on 24 January 1941 with the nationalisation of Spain's railways. As per EU Directive 91/440, Renfe was divided into Renfe Operadora (operations) and ADIF (infrastructure) on 1 January 2005. At the same time, the existing Renfe logo (nicknamed the "galleta", Spanish for biscuit), first introduced in 1971, was replaced by a dark purple lower-case wordmark designed by Interbrand. Separate logos used by the other sectors were also replaced, but the old Renfe logo remains in use in some stations in Spain and on maps to indicate an ADIF station.

The Railway Sector Act, 2003 separated the management, maintenance and construction of rail infrastructure from train operation. The first activity is now the responsibility of Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF), while the newly created Renfe-Operadora (also known as Grupo Renfe or simply Renfe) owns the rolling stock and remains responsible for the planning, marketing and operation of the passenger and freight services. This same process was followed in FEVE in 2012, whereby its infrastructure and services were merged in Adif and Renfe.

Renfe no longer has a monopoly on domestic passenger services due to Ouigo España launching in 2021, followed by Iryo in 2022.

Structure

Renfe-Operadora inherited the management model of the old Renfe, which made Renfe-Operadora responsible for the operation of the passenger and freight services. In January 2006, Renfe-Operadora restructured the main business units into four general directorates:

• Dirección General de Servicios Públicos de Cercanías y Media Distancia (General Public Utilities Directorate for Suburban and Medium Distance): responsible for commuter services (Cercanías), medium-distance high-speed rail AVE services and medium-range regional services (:es:Regionales and :es:Media Distancia).
• Dirección General de Servicios de Larga Distancia (General Directorate of Long Distance Services): responsible for long-distance intercity and high-speed rail services (except medium-distance AVE services and Media Distancia, which is managed by the above business unit).
• Dirección General de Servicios de Mercancías y Logística (General Directorate for Freight and Logistics Services): responsible for freight services.
• Dirección General de Fabricación y Mantenimiento (General Directorate of Manufacturing and Maintenance): responsible for rolling stock maintenance and manufacture (also known as Integria).

In June 2013, Renfe's board agreed to restructure the group into four separate companies under the holding company:{{cite news

• Renfe Viajeros, operating passenger trains;
• Renfe Mercancías, freight;
• Renfe Fabricación y Mantenimiento, rolling stock maintenance;
• Renfe Alquiler de Material Ferroviario, train leasing.

Figures

Operations

The company operates some 12000 km of railways, 7000 km of them electrified. Most of the tracks are constructed to the broad Iberian gauge of , the same as that used in Portugal but wider than the international gauge of which is standard in most of the rest of the world. The newer high-speed (AVE) network has been built to the international standard gauge of for the connection to the rest of the European railway system. For this reason, the gauge is generally termed "European gauge" in Spain.

Construction of a high-speed rail line between Madrid and Seville began in 1988 and began operations in 1991, going 300 km/h. The second high-speed rail line (Madrid to Barcelona) was completed in 2007 with the inaugural service commencing on 20 February 2008. The operational speed on this route is 350 km/h. The greater part of the line (Madrid to Lleida) entered service on 11 October 2003, with a connection to Huesca from Zaragoza. The third high-speed line (Madrid to Toledo) was opened in November 2005, followed by a spur from Córdoba to Málaga as far as Antequera in 2007. Another high-speed route from Madrid to Valladolid was opened in 2007. A line from Madrid to Valencia was opened in 2010, and the first stage of a high-speed line in Galicia opened in 2011. A line to Lisbon is being designed.

Other lines operated by Renfe include Euromed, a moderate-speed line between Barcelona and Alicante.

In addition to intercity transport, Renfe operates commuter train systems, known as Cercanías (or Rodalies in Catalonia and Cercanías-Aldirikoak in the Basque Country), in eleven metropolitan areas, including Madrid and Barcelona. In some cities, Renfe shares the market with other commuter railway operators, such as FGC.

In 2019, Renfe solicited bids for 31 new trains for the Asturias and Cantabria regions and the €258m contract was awarded to the CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) in June 2020. Around February 2023, authorities discovered the designs were for the wrong loading gauge and would be too wide for the tunnels. Amidst international embarrassment, Renfe and ADIF each tried to deflect responsibility, and some called for the firing of the executives deemed responsible. Fortunately, the trains were still being designed, however the Cercanía commuter trains will be delayed until 2026.

In November 2024, Renfe bought a 33% shareholding in Arenaways.

Passenger rolling stock

Renfe-Operadora utilises the following rolling stock and commercial products inside of its two divisions:

Suburban and Medium Distance (DGSPCMD)

Cercanías (Commuter Services), meter gauge

Cercanías (Commuter Services), Iberian gauge

Mainline Medium Distance Services (iberian gauge)

Mainline Medium Distance Services (metric gauge)

High-Speed Medium Distance Services

Long Distance (DGSLD)

Luxury Tourist Train Services

Mainline Long Distance Services

High-Speed Long Distance Services

Prototype rolling stock

Future rolling stock

Vehicles register numbers

All classes are designated by three numbers. The first digit has a special meaning:

• 1xx: High speed multiple unit
• 2xx: Electric locomotive
• 3xx: Diesel locomotive
• 4xx: Electric multiple unit (EMU)
• 5xx: Diesel multiple unit (DMU)
• 6xx: Hybrid locomotive
• 7xx: Hybrid multiple unit (HMU)
• 8xx: Trams which can run on railways

Tickets

Travel tickets are available from rail stations and online. In 2023 the European Commission initiated an investigation into concerns that Renfe might have been abusing its dominant position in the online ticketing market by refusing to share journey time information with competing ticketing websites. Renfe offered a number of commitments intended to address these concerns, which the European Commission made legally binding in January 2024 under the EU's competition rules.

Notes

:1.Operated by CP in Portugal. :2.Managed by Elipsos under the brand Renfe-SNCF en Cooperación/en Coopération.

References

References

1. (2025-10-07). "Renfe redujo sus pérdidas a solo 3 millones de euros en 2024 tras disparar un 14% sus pasajeros". Europa Press.
2. "Renfe {{!}} Train Tickets & Routes {{!}} Book in English".
3. (11 January 2005). "La Nueva Renfe". Federación Castellano Manchega de Amigos del Ferrocarril.
4. (2012-05-03). "Feve defiende su integración con Renfe y Adif como la "única solución" para la empresa".
5. "RENFE restructuring approved". [[Railway Gazette International]].
6. "Railway Gazette".
7. "High Speed: Open access comes to Spain". Railway Gazette.
8. (February 12, 2023). "$276 million was spent on 31 Spanish trains before it was realized they were too big to fit in the tunnels". Business Insider.
9. Badcock, James. "Spain spends €258m to build trains too big for its tunnels".
10. King, Chris. (2023-02-10). "Cantabrian President demands heads of 'big shots' must roll over new trains not fitting through tunnels".
11. (2023). "Heads roll in- Spain over trains too wide for tunnels". Stuff/Fairfax.
12. [https://www.railjournal.com/financial/renfe-acquires-stake-in-italian-operator-arenaways/ Renfe acquires stake in Italian operator Arenaways] ''[[International Railway Journal]]'' 27 November 2024
13. [https://web.archive.org/web/20241127210824/https://www.renfe.com/es/en/renfe-group/communication/renfe-today/press-room/renfe-partners-longitude-expand-italian-market Renfe partners with Longitude to expand into Italian market] Renfe 27 November 2024
14. (14 February 2008). "El AVE entre Madrid y Barcelona inicia sus servicios el 20 de febrero, con cinco tipos de tarifas". VÍA LIBRE.
15. (14 December 2023). "S-103". Renfe.
16. "Renfe has confirmed its schedules for 2024 to reach Paris and expand its operations across France with up to 16 AVE trains per day". Renfe.
17. . (21 July 2022). ["Felipe VI inaugura el AVE a Burgos más de una década después del inicio de las obras"](https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/nacional/2022/07/21/felipe-vi-inaugura-ave-burgos-decada-despues-inicio-obras-1589269.html). *www.heraldo.es*.
18. (December 2010). "Los AVE Madrid-Levante". VÍA LIBRE.
19. Herrero, Óscar. (20 May 2024). "Palencia estrena mañana los Avril de Renfe, con mejora de tiempos a Asturias y Castellón". palenciaenlared.es.
20. European Commission, [https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_201 Commission accepts commitments by Renfe opening up competition in online rail ticketing in Spain], Press Release IP/24/201, published 17 January 2024