High-speed train passengers between Barcelona and Madrid up by 34.6% in 2023

The number of high-speed train passengers between Barcelona and Madrid registered 13.78 million passengers in 2023, which represents a 34.6% increase since 2022.  

It is almost all the seats offered in this connection and all of the intermediate stops, with a total of 14.94 million seats available.  

The industry's openness, with new operators offering the same route with tickets as low as 7€, sky-rocketed the amount of high-speed train travelers in Spain up to 32.4 million, according to the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission.  

The most solicited direct route is the one connecting the Catalan capital with Madrid, with 8.6 million users. Followed by the connection between Madrid and Valencia (4.8 million), Madrid-Sevilla (3.1 million), and Madrid-Malaga (2.5 million).  

Renfe was the company that offered 58% of the connections between the two capitals, followed by 21.9% of the trips offered by Iryo, and 20.1% by French rail company Ouigo. 

After the liberalization of the railway services in December 2020, Renfe's market share has decreased 10 percentual points.