June marks two years since the Avlo service was launched; this alternative way of travelling, in its short life span, now connects Madrid to Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Seville and Malaga and all the intermediate stations on these lines. In short, the only low-cost "universal" service for all destinations.
And to keep offering this universal service, we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new S106 trains:
(*) From June 2023
The Figueres-Vilafant station was chosen for the departure of the first commercial Avlo service, leaving at 5:35 a.m. on 23 June 2021. Almost an hour later, at 6:20 a.m. in the morning, the first train to Barcelona left Madrid. The launch, originally scheduled for April 2020, had to be suspended on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the first anniversary of the service, it was found that the number of passengers on this line had tripled compared to the previous period, and that the release of 342,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere had been avoided compared to trips using private vehicles, and more than double the volume of emissions had these trips been made by plane.
On 21 February 2022, Avlo was launched on the Madrid-Valencia line. Six daily trips stopping in Cuenca and Utiel-Requena, coming to a total of 2,200 seats per day. In the space of one year, the number of customers doubled, and there are now 15 daily high-speed services in each direction.
Since then, the classic aubergine colour of these trains has become a common image on the lines they run on, and an object of desire for others where the service is currently unavailable, which will gradually be fulfilled. It will come as no surprise that the slogan for the launch campaign was "Alta Velocidad (high-speed) for everyone", and the aim of Renfe's newest product was to provide all segments of the population with a fast, reliable and sustainable (zero emissions) means of transport.
Avlo's third destination, launching on 27 March, is Alicante, with four daily trips stopping in Albacete, and two of them also stopping in Cuenca and Villena.
Seville and Malaga, as well as all the stations on these lines, will see the must sought-after Avlo launch in June, taking the number of cities benefitting from this alternative way of travelling, with all the comforts and at the best price, to twenty-one.
One of the most important features of this new product is that it has substantially increased the number of seats on high-speed services, since the incorporation of Avlo has had no impact on the number of trips made by AVE (high-speed), Alvia or Intercity trains.