"Powered by Renfe" is rolled out to improve the reliability and quality of travel on the regional line between Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, and the border city of Komárno. The Renfe brand now travels across Central Europe on the trains operated by Leo Express in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. This is another step forward in the company's international expansion plans and its aim to reach other international markets.
Raül Blanco, Chairman of Renfe, travelled to Bratislava to supervise the start of operations of this concession contract awarded by the Slovak government to Leo Express (operator in which Renfe holds a majority stake) and to assess the progress of the company's international business expansion plans in the region.
The contract for the provision of the regional train service between Bratislava and Komárno, which was awarded a year ago, was the first public service concession to be awarded in a EU country, a process in which Renfe has participated from the start. However, this is not Renfe's first European experience, since it had already been awarded with a PSO contract in the Czech region of Pardubice in 2021, years before it held a stake in Leo Express.
The scope of the concession in Slovakia includes the operation, maintenance, distribution and sale of tickets over a nine-year period for a regional service with an estimated demand of 2.4 million passengers per year. The Spanish company prepared the bid in collaboration with Leo Express, executed the rolling stock rental operation and has been an active participant in the train fleet acceptance, adaptation and authorisation processes carried out last Sunday, 10 December, including all other procedures required for the start of operations.
During his visit to Bratislava, Raül Blanco, Chairman of Renfe, travelled on the trains operating between Bratislava and Kvetoslav, visited the Leo Express facilities in Slovakia and held various work meetings to continue making progress on the provision of services across the region.
Renfe and Leo Express have signed a memorandum of understanding for the Czech operator to rent trains of the Renfe fleet when the Spanish operator receives new rolling stock.
Powered by Renfe
Renfe's international expansion plans also involve being recognised as a benchmark operator across the world. To this end, it has adopted the slogan "Powered by Renfe" for the provision of services in partnership with other operators. At the commercial level, this strategy will allow Renfe to benefit from having a local partner, while disseminating the Renfe brand, according to different participation models in international projects.
From this month onwards, "Powered by Renfe" will be operating across Central Europe on the trains it operates in collaboration with Leo Express, the Coradia series trains that provide this public service in Slovakia and on the long-distance trains with which Leo Express provides open-access services between the Czech Republic's biggest and most important cities and on the international routes that connect Prague to Poland and Slovakia.