Train tickets

https://www.renfe.com/es/en

Hello Becky,

Spanish train schedules and tickets are available about 2-months ahead. You can buy them online through Renfe, the National Spanish Railway website, but it doesn't accept all U.S. credit cards and it's a bit quirky. I prefer to use Trainline, which sells tickets at about the same prices, and find it much easier to use. Trainline also sells tickets for OUIGO and Iryo trains, which are not sold through Renfe. All these trains have both first and second class. The cheapest, 2nd class tickets on Iryo trains are the only trains I've experienced any type of luggage restrictions.

Buen Viaje!

There are 3 passenger train companies in Spain, Renfe (the national train company), Iryo, and Ouigo. You can use any of them pretty interchangeably. Service will not be significantly different. I would just book the lowest price/ most convenient time for your needs.

There a few different aggregator websites to search multiple train carriers. The Train Line or Rome2Rio will have listings of all the different lines on the city pair you search. I would do the research on those aggregator websites and then book directly on Renfe, Iryo or Ouigo's website. Some people have trouble with the Renfe website, and it might be slightly easier to use the Renfe smartphone app to book your tickets.

I've taken the Renfe business/premium class with the "Comfort seat," it doesn't make a big difference for a two hour train trip honestly.

They're all going to allow you to bring a carry-on size suitcase. If you have a very large suitcase, there may be an additional fee.

....If you have a very large suitcase, there may be an additional fee...... If that is true, then it is a recent change in policy as we have never encountered any luggage check or fees or limits. Since there is no "check-in" I am not sure where the check or how they would collect a fee. If you can carry it on, it is yours. Spanish trains do have a very light screening of you and your luggage at the head of the platform. Nothing as through as an airport screening. Personally I think standard, economy, 2ns class tickets are fine. Train travel is easy and convenient.

The only time I have heard of any luggage fees are with the cheapest tickets on trains operated by Iryo, which charges extra for bigger bags. I have never had this happen on any other Spanish trains.

Thanks all!

Do not use Rome2Rio for research on train schedules. It can by laughably inaccurate, and there are much better sources.

Trainline now (usually?) adds a modest service fee to the cost of train tickets. I'd try to purchase from the operating rail company first and switch to Trainline only if I couldn't get the initial purchase to go through. I had no trouble with Renfe in 2019, but I know the payment step is a problem rather often on Renfe.com.

The Renfe app on iOS has become surprisingly good. Very easy to check schedules and buy tickets, and also to show tickets when it's time to board. Also keeps track of your 'Renfecitos' loyalty point awards (I have a whopping 66 of them now)

Thanks! I checked the schedule for December 9th, and there are 4 trains listed from Seville to Granada. Is this the "whole" schedule? Or could there be more times released at a later date?

"To be pedantic, that is not the official Spanish Railway website"

To be pedantic, actually it is. Renfe IS the official rail operator of Spain: "Renfe is the Spanish state-owned railway operator responsible for running most passenger and freight trains on Spain's extensive rail network, including high-speed lines like the AVE and regional services. Known as the Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (Spanish National Railway Network)

While there are other operators running trains in Spain - OUIGO (French) and Iryo (Italian), they are not associated with Renfe, even though they operate within Spain.

I love the word "pedantic". I once had a boyfriend who responded to my accusations with the oh-so-original comment, "I'm nobody's pet ant".

Another vote for Trainline. I'm feeling a bit of validation that an RSE employee admits to preferring Trainline over Renfe.

Rail ninja is easy to navigate.

Rail Ninja can be a great deal more expensive than direct purchase of train tickets. I recall earlier posts here to that effect. It's one thing to pay a modest service fee because you simply cannot get a rail-company website to work with your credit card (or for some other reason) when you're trying to snag an early-purchase discounted ticket while those are still available; it's a different story if you're paying a huge mark-up. It's really important to look at the operating-company website first, so you know what the actual ticket cost is and can make an informed decision about how much you're willing to pay for convenience. Then there's the question of whether you'll ever get the ticket you've paid for.

Those considering use of Rail Ninja should stop right now and Google "Reviews Rail Ninja".

So, to clarify, countries in the EU no longer have “official” or “state” railway companies as such (https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-modes/rail/market_en). The rail market was gradually liberalised in four phases between 2010 and 2016.

Many former state-owned companies still have government participation, since rail transport is considered a strategic national asset, but the state now acts more like a regular shareholder. In many countries, the old state company was split into two (or more) entities: one is responsible for the infrastructure (tracks, stations, etc.) — in Spain, that’s ADIF — and another that manages traffic, services, and timetables — that’s RENFE.

In Spain, matters are somewhat more complex due to the country’s administrative structure, which comprises autonomous communities, each with its own parliament and government. That means in some cases (for example, Catalonia, my turf), part of the rail system management (RENFE) is co-managed locally. In Catalonia, for instance, another company, RODALIES, operates the commuter and regional RENFE trains, but not the high-speed ones, which are interregional. There’s also another operator, FGC, which runs local and suburban trains in and around the Barcelona metropolitan area in a different (physical) network.

All that said, in practice, in some countries (like Spain), the main shareholder of the former state railway company is still the national government. So even though these companies are technically private, in reality, it’s often the government that continues to make most of the key decisions. The liberalisation process opened up competition within Europe’s rail systems, but in practice, competition mostly exists on a few routes, especially high-speed ones. Building, managing, and maintaining a railway network is extremely expensive, so even with liberalisation, it’s unlikely we’ll see real competition across all lines.

In short, there’s no longer an “official national railway company” in the EU. All are technically private companies with shareholders competing under the same rules, although not all of them started on equal footing.

Also, so you know, in Spain there are 13 (thirteen!) companies offering passenger services. And despite their different sizes, all of them are relevant because each one of us has different needs. For example, if you’re travelling to Manresa for the pilgrimage along the ‘Via Ignasiana,’ the company you need is FGC, not RENFE, OUIGO, or any of the more well-known operators. The same goes for other touristy corners of Spain, like Gernika or Lekeitio in Basque Country, Cudillero or Santillana del Mar in Northern Spain or Alcoi in Valencia.

PS. I swear I’m not trying to play the know-it-all here, but I figure it’s worth explaining how the whole EU railway circus works so folks coming from abroad don’t think we’re just making it up as we go LOL!
(sorry Becky for hijacking the thread!)

Enric, thanks for your very informative post. I find it extremely interesting, as well as useful.

Re: Renfe app for iPhone.

I live in the U.S. and just added the Renfe app to my iPhone 17. I was able to purchase tickets for two trips in Spain in April. Useful hints are to select country and telephone country code from their lists that appear when you touch the blank space to be filled in (the U.S. is Estados Unidos) as well as ID form (passport). Select "frequent traveler" when the opportunity pops up for additional members of your party to save their information, which is required for each trip purchased. My VISA worked fine.

I'll be travelling throughout Spain too; most of May basically. Madrid + small trips around Madrid (Segovia, Toledo) & Malaga for a few days. Can I just continue as a guest to buy my Renfe / other train tickets? I'm travelling solo. Thank you! I know that from Madrid I can do day trips to Toledo & Segovia on their train / subway network. Open to info & ideas. Thanks!

Regarding problems purchasing tix at renfe.com, I hit unidentified error messages several times yesterday on both the renfe app and the web site. I even opened a complaint ticket. Then I read Rick's note elsewhere on this site: "The Renfe site now accepts PayPal, but is otherwise chronically unable to take US credit cards." I then successfully booked with paypal. My advice, avoid the useless Apple Pay button. Thanks, Rick!

By the way, when you go to add a second passenger, you might find the system refuses to accept 10 digits for a US +1 phone number. I did manage to enter 10 digits in some profile page of saved extra passengers, then pulled it in for the actual order. The system still threw an error message but proceeded with the booking anyway.
-jimmy thomas

Yeah, on desktop computer, getting even a one way train ticket from Malaga, Spain to Madrid, Spain = the webpage unresponsive & technical errors. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend downloading the Renfe app on your smart phone => registering & creating an account => also creating a PayPal account (I know it's a pain). What I found funny was that even after paying w/ PayPal on the mobile app (on my iPhone), I still got this error, "Ooops! Error tecnico, por favor intentelo du nuevo." Lol. I checked with my bank and had them on the line, while I was making this purchase and my transaction on the Renfe app did go through, after a couple of tries! My next plan is to monitor my Renfe account to see if my one way train itinerary gets added in there. I also emailed Renfe customer support about it. Thoughts about this anyone? Very interesting/strange.

Ok, after going through the process of purchasing a Spanish train ticket (specifically, one way from Malaga to Madrid), this is what I discovered:

1. Both the Renfe website and Renfe app on iPhone is extremely finnicky. The user experience is very poor. Especially, being from the U.S. or if you have intermediate Spanish skills (such as myself). An English speaker or anyone who doesn't speak fluent Spanish is going to have issues navigating the website and iPhone app.

2. I had to create two accounts, just to attempt to pay for a one way train ticket. I had to create a Renfe account and a PayPal account.

3. Even when I had my bank (KeyBank) on the phone with me while I was attempting to make the purchase, KeyBank said I did make the purchase (after going through the payment screen for a third time), Renfe said I did make the purchase (after going through payment process for a third time), and then the next day Renfe reimbursed my bank account.

Short of it: Renfe said I made the purchase, even though train ticket didn't show up on my end after paying, in my Renfe account.

1. I work in the tech industry and work on websites every day for work remotely. If you don't have any technical experience with navigating clunky websites, I'd advise not to use Renfe's iPhone app, or the website to make a purchase.

2. It took me 2.5 to 3 hours to attempt to figure this all out. It was absolutely wild, annoying, and a frustrating process.

Website I suggest my fellow English speakers (and people from the U.S. especially) to go on to purchase a Spain train ticket = Trainline! Trainline is your friend! You can still get Renfe, Eurostar, Iryo, Italo, etc. trains, depending on date availability!

• Trainline URL: https://www.thetrainline.com/en-us

Benefits of Trainline:

1. The website I just sent on this chat is incredibly easy to navigate, compared to the mental pain you'll have to encounter using Renfe's website and iPhone app; a way better user experience using Trainline. You DO NOT need to create any account to pay for your ticket.

2. It was so easy to purchase a Spanish train ticket. Trainline works with multiple Spanish train operators/Europe train operators and functions as a third party between you and the Spanish/European train company; meaning most likely (especially if you're American), your card will not get denied, due to security reasons, like what it did for me on the Renfe website and iPhone app.

3. You can either put in your card number manually (very easy) or you can use the info from your PayPal account. Bam! Magic! You have yourself a Spanish/European train ticket!

4. Very easy to toggle Spanish train locations, dates you want to travel, etc.

5. Trainline sends you a confirmation/booking email to your email (I suggest using your Gmail account), you can click a link, then wallah! You have your train ticket downloaded into your Apple wallet.

6. Trainline gives you options to pick your own seat, train class, etc. with ease. It's far easier than navigating Renfe.

7. Also, I sent a complaint request in Spanglish to Renfe and as of recently (tonight - took them 3 to 4 days to resppond), they finally got back to me, and sent me an essay message on how to navigate the Renfe app; who has time to read that?

8. Finally: You can toggle which country you're from and the Trainline website will convert to U.S. English, U.K. English, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazil or Portugal), Italian, etc. You can also toggle the appropriate currency, based on what country you're from!

I hope this message helps others in their travels to Spain; especially, if one is to purchase a Spanish/European train ticket(s) in advance.

Thank you!

Yes, I agree! As a tour guide in Spain, I often come across this issue with tour members trying to buy tickets through Renfe After spending quite a bit of time trying to help them buy tickets through the both the website and app, I always use Trainline for Spanisht train tickets. It's much easier to use!

I just got back from Spain. Taking the advice of Rich and several forum members, I purchased all my train tickets on Trainline with no problems.

When one of my trains was canceled, I received an email directly from Renfe. I learned that even though Trainline is a third-party booking platform, the reservation is still made in Renfe’s system, and Renfe has the booking details and contact information to provide any needed notifications.