Spain lives today a new historic moment, the birth of Iryo – first private Spanish company which has and operated high-speed trains.
Iryo consortium is made up by investors of top airway Spanish firm Air Nostrum, railway organization Trenitalia, one of the biggest train operators in Europe with a vast experience in high-speed rail transport, and Globalvia, one of the leading companies at a global level, specialized in managing and concessioning of rail infrastructure and mobility services.
Liberalization of rail sector gave birth to competition, offering passengers the possibility of higher quality services, less-frequented routes and better fares.
Iryo has, at the moment, the most advanced trains in Europe. These are fully silent and ecologic, being specially built for this new company.
The ETR-1000 train made by Hitachi-Bombardier, knows as Alstom Group, is the fastest, modern and sustainable train in Europe. Thanks to its aerodynamic construction of last generation and use of last generation technology which helps saving energy, the train can reach speeds of up to 360km/h. Its capacity is of 419 travelers.
Iryo whishes to offer its customers the highest degree of comfort in Spain, through premium services such as: 3 different classes, high quality WiFi 5G and excellent catering service, with dishes concepted and elaborated by chef Aitor Rodriguez Paz, for a fantastic gastronomic experience at the board of these new trains.
Iryo routes will reach cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia, Cuenca, Alicante, Cordoba, Malaga, Sevilla and Albacete.
At the Grand Opening on 21st of November, the investors and the Spanish Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sanchez, were present. She reminded everyone that, since that day, Spain is the first country on the entire continent that has 3 different high-speed train operators, covering 70% of the entire country with more than 4000km of high-speed rail.
“For us, this is the most sustainable and efficient method of transport which will help us fight the climate change. The liberalization of the rail sector made us to be more competitive and improve the quality of the services we offer the Spanish citizens, which are the ration of everything we do.” Raquel Sanchez declared.
Luigi Corradi, general director of Trenitalia, was nervous due to the official launch of Iryo. “In 2010 we started envisioning the train which will go all around Europe. The idea is to create trips perceived as pleasant experiences, where you spend one or more hours in a cozy atmosphere with quality services. The train is the future, is sustainable in term of protecting the environment. The Frecciarossa is 96% recyclable thanks to its building materials. The journey with such a train emits the least amount of CO2. Our desire is to make people believe in trains and use it in favor of cars and planes. Spain is a fascinating country to travel by train.”
Carlos Bertomeu, president of the company: “Iryo is our project which we have been working on for the last 10 years. One long trip for our final destination today, the inauguration day. For 1 hour and 40 minutes we flew above the rail between Madrid and Valencia in the most advanced train which operates in Europe. We wish that the public will also reach the same conclusion as us, that the train is the best transport service. Iryo is a project with excellent travel partners.”
