Hi KRS, There are a couple reasons that may explain why you’re unable to buy your train tix for January.
Renfe’s stated policy is that it sells high-speed train tix beginning 90 days in advance of the train’s departure date. For other trains, Renfe states it puts them up for sale 60 days in advance of the departure date.
This would mean that a Renfe high--speed train ticket for January 1 will not go on sale until October 3 and all other train tix would go on sale on November 3.
In reality, Renfe doesn’t follow its own stated policy and it sells its train tix according to no particular schedule. It’s unpredictable when any specific route will be loaded onto Renfe’s computerized ticketing system.
The Trainline contracts with Renfe to sell Renfe’s train tix. Until Renfe puts the tix up for sale, The Trainline’s hands are tied as they cannot sell them until Renfe allows them to. Occasionally I have seen Renfe’s tix go for sale on The Trainline website even before Renfe has them for sale on the Renfe website at www.Renfe.com
The other reason for the delay in being able to buy January train tix now is the European train timetable revision. Europe’s train timetables are revised two times each year. The newly revised train schedules are then released at midnight of the second Saturday of every June and again on the second Saturday of every December. ( That is December 14, 2024). I have been told it may be possible to buy Renfe train tix for January trains sometime in mid-October. We shall see.
In reality, the revised train schedules have very few changes and they remain similar to the prior year’s timetable with a few changes for some trains. You can pretty much count on 95% of Renfe’s trains departing at the same time and arriving at their destination at the same time shown on the previous schedule. There might be a change of a few minutes for some trains. So, by looking at the train schedules today you will get a good idea of which trains are the fastest and which ones you might want to be on. When the new schedule is issued in December, it will stay the same for the following 6 months. ( I have a printed Thomas Cooke train timetable from 1999 and it’s astounding how similar today’s schedules are to the ones back when it was printed 25 years ago)!
The other train companies— Iryo and Ouigo Espana ( www.Ouigo.com) have different policies as to when they put their train tix up for sale online. Iryo, puts its tickets up for sale 12 months in advance of the train’s departure. IRYO started operating trains in Spain just a couple years ago and its routes include Madrid, Cordoba, Seville, Cuenca, Malaga, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante. and Zaragoza.
With several of those cities in your itinerary— you can buy IRYO tickets today at www.Iryo.eu
www.TheTrainline.com will show trains for all 4 different train companies operating in Spain. So, the advantage of taking a look at the Trainline’s website is you can see the fares and schedules for all 4 train companies in one place and this is a good way to shop train tix and save money! (Each train company website only displays the fares for its own trains).
Be sure to set up The Trainline’s App along with Iryo’s and Renfe’s on your cell phone in advance of when you can buy your tix because it makes buying multiple train tickets for your trip much simpler and you don’t have to reenter all your data every time you buy a ticket online. The Trainline App will store your Passport number, expiration date, address, etc making buying train tix a much faster task.
For more insight into Spain’s trains, visit www.Seat61.com. It’s a website whose editor, Mark Smith, is a retired British Rail employee with expertise in all things relating to European train systems.
Have a great trip!
