Spain: 30K tickets sold for Barcelona-Paris high-speed train Madrid-Marseille and Barcelona-Toulouse lines also opened

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, DECEMBER 16 - More than 30,000 people bought tickets for the brand-new high-speed train linking Barcelona and Paris, which started operating yesterday, Spanish publicly-held train operator Renfe said Monday.



The tickets ranging from 59-170 euros were sold in two weeks, Renfe said.



The new line has five round-trip connections daily, taking just 6 hours and 25 minutes. Two more international rail links were inaugurated yesterday: Madrid-Marseille (7 hours, tickets at 89-171 euros) and Barcelona-Toulouse (3 hours).



Renfe and its French counterpart Societé Generale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF) will increase the frequency and destinations to cover estimated demand of one million international travelers in 2014, the railway company said. People traveling between Spain and France take an estimated 82 million trips a year, of which 89% in private vehicles. High-speed rail wants to compete against cars, buses, and planes, analysts said. (ANSAmed).



