To France: Renfe names the day

On 19 June 2023 in Barcelona Renfe President Raül Blanco announced that on 13 July the operator would start its Barcelona to Lyon service, followed on 28 July by that from Madrid to Marseille. Sales of tickets for both services are to start on 21 June.

The Barcelona to Lyon service will stop at Girona, Figueres, Perpignan, Narbonne, Béziers, Montpellier, Nîmes and Valence. That from Madrid to Marseille will stop at Zaragoza, Tarragona, Barcelona, Girona, Figueres, Perpignan, Narbonne, Béziers, Montpellier, Nîmes, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence.

The next objective is to provide services from both Barcelona and Marseille to Paris, in readiness for the 2024 Olympics. It is envisaged that from October 1 the two initial services will offer around 9,700 seats per week. So far no details of train timings have been released. These could appear on 21 June.

For the new Spanish-France high speed services the Class 100 AVEs will be used (Avril authorisation is now scheduled for completion in November).