Italy’s High-speed Frecciarossa trains to launch in Spain

Rome: Italy’s Trenitalia is set to launch a new high-speed Frecciarossa service between Madrid and Barcelona later this year, with technical tests getting underway on Friday.

The tests are being carried out by ILSA, a consortium owned by Trenitalia (FS Italiane Group) and Spain’s Air Nostrum (Iberia Group), in the final phase before getting the green light to operate on the Spanish railway network.

The move will mark the debut of the Frecciarossa 1000 in Spain, with the high-speed Made in Italy trains set to be launched between the end of November and the start of December, reports Corriere della Sera.

Under the “Iryo” brand, the new train service will offer a three-hour travel time between Madrid and Barcelona, modelled on the Rome-Milan service, with tickets due to go on sale this autumn.

Additional high-speed services will then be launched from Madrid to Seville, Malaga, Cordoba, Valencia, Alicante and Zaragoza.

In December 2019 Trenitalia launched a Frecciarossa service between Milan and Paris, becoming the first foreign company to operate in the French high-speed market.

The move came after EU legislation removed barriers to a single European rail area, harmonising regulations among national passenger-rail systems.