AVE mothballed?

[pablo]

I read somwhere that Renfe has mothballed the Toledo-Cuenca-Albacete HSL after just six month's in operation owing to low demand. Does anyone know if this is this true?

 

[exile]

The trains are still running from Toledo-Albacete-Alacant - according to RENFE anyway. 2 trains a day stop at Cuenca.

On a recent visit, the trains from Madrid to Toledo were packed solid.

 

[dalmahoyhill]

Its not the line i think but services from Toledo south on the Valencia AVE route i heard had been canned due to very low patronage. Interestingly anti HS2 campaigners used it as a example of the folly of HSR. Toledo is just a short spur off the route Madrid Valencia line. Still plenty of trains to Madrid though as Exile said.

 

[exile]

Well, again, on my last visit (May) the only trains to and from Toledo were on the Madrid route, none to Valencia.

 

[pablo]

Thanks for the info. It seems it was a cross-country route and probably branded as Alvia or Avant rather than AVE. I found the reference in an anti-HS2 article in a limited circulation mag and felt like a tilt at it as irrelevant, which it probably is.
Now found the following links:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...603392/Spain-cuts-high-speed-ghost-train.html
http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2011/07/17/renfe-toledo-albacete-high-speed-train/
which confirm the story.

 

[Gordon]

What has happened here is (as usual) that the non-transport specialist press has turned round a simple story into a load of rubbish.

The new high speed line via Cuenca is used daily by trains from Madrid. All that has happened is that a train introduiced from Toledo to Cuenca etc has not attracted the passneger numbers that had been hoped for. The people of Toledo obviosuly don't travel in that direciton enough and you can only find that out through experience. Renfe was only trying to be helpful in providing a through service.

There are plenty of examples all over the world of experimental transport services being tried out but then closed if unsuccesful.

SNCF has introduced various cross-France TGV services. Some have been very succesfull, others have not and have been withdrawn - that's life.

If anything it looks like the Renfe spokeperson used less than ideal terminology - and especailly did not take into account how the media might twist words round.


.

 

[exile]

To reinforce my point - I arrived at Madrid Atocha in the morning to find all Toledo trains booked solid until midday.