this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
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Great!
Now, on a related note, could Renfe and SNCF please create usable, interoperable websites and services? Renfe Cercanías trains don't show in the main Renfe search at all. SNCF Inoui trains need to be booked via third parties like Trainline, Renfe doesn't offer any third-party tickets. [...]
Over here in Germany, while Deutsche Bahn has a lot of annoying quirks, ticket search is really well integrated.
Could we just get an EU wide ticketing system. So tickets from every national train company are accepted by all the other ones as well and stuff like delays work. It is awfull that having a delayed SNCF train and you missing a RENFE one due to that means you need to buy a new ticket for the next RENFE train.
The insane part of Deutsche Bahns website is that it is often easier to use then the one from other EU countries, but has basicly all timetables in it. You can look up RENFE connections for example, without booking them.
We already had this years ago with SCIC-NRT but France, Italy,Spain and Sweden started with the Global Price Bullshit which destroyed it. Nowadays with the private operators the rail sector is getting even more fragmented. Also the 4th rail package of the EU which bans state rail operators from getting any direct subsidies starting 2031 (everything has to be put up for tender) will make this situation even worse I fear. I really like the EU, but that rule is really shitty. The Status Quo where every member state decides if they want to have a market in their rail sector or a national railway was better IMHO
Almost all administrative and service webpages of the Spanish state and its companies have absolutely dreadful interfaces to the point it's become sort of an in joke between Spaniards.
With the only exception I can think of being Correos, it's like they don't know what web dev even is.
The state train companies keep fighting it.
Similarly related, it's absurd to me how low the number of train connections is in Spain. And the ones available are very pricy for no reason.
This week there were like 4 trains a day connecting two major cities like Madrid and León. The most basic ticket was 75€. It's not even a high speed train.
Mind you, I'm italian and our railway system is far from perfect. But at least we don't pay premium prices for sub par and infrequent services
León isn't exactly what I would call a major city; it has a regional significance for sure, but just between 100-200k inhabitants, and Madrid isn't even that close. Four trains per day is less than ideal, though, you're right there. In my opinion, the situation is much worse in more peripheral areas of the country. For example, trains between highly important regional hubs like from Sevilla to Valencia or even Málaga take huge detours and operate surprisingly infrequently.