Train Reservations Needed From Madrid to Barcelona

If you want to save money on your tix, buy them online in advance because they keep rising in price as the train’s departure date approaches: www.IRYO.eu. or www.renfe.com or www.ouigo.com

In addition to the potentially significant cost savings, consider also that in Spain, the express trains sometimes sell out. That includes the line between Barcelona and Madrid.

Spain has the best high speed railway network, and the worst run national Railway. RENFE, the national operator, does not run enough trains by a huge margin, They are even better at parking trains then SNCF.

As a result trains do indeed often sell out. So you need to book them in advance. And that even for regional trains. No wonder Spaniards aren't really that much in to train travel.

Also be aware that in Spain they have security checks at the station, and there is a ticket inspection before boarding. So a lot of queuing involved.

There are two other operators on that route, Iryo, and Ouigo. I would go for Iryo. That is operated by Trenitalia, probably the best operator of high speed trains in Europe.

Last year in Italy I used a company called Omio (https://www.omio.com/) for train tickets (they also have Spain). They include all the train companies. The site and app are straightforward and easy to use. Pick your times, class of travel, done.

Last year in Italy I used a company called Omio
(https://www.omio.com/) for train tickets (they also have Spain). They
include all the train companies.

Alan, I am certain that it can be a great tool. But the structure of the sentence might lead onr to the interpretation that the intent of the statement is that Omio includes all of the train companies, including those in Spain. It does not, and as a result it may not always provide the lowest price. Kenko, again, the forum isn't a "gotcha" game or competition.

I just did a mock booking on that site and it does include all three train lines in Spain. If you are pinching pennies I suppose you can check out the prices then go to that specific carrier and compare. I did that in Italy and the difficulty in navigating those sites and trying to get my credit card to go through did not justify the minimal savings.

Mr. E is incorrect. As Allan indicated, Omio does include all the train companies that do the Madrid-Barcelona route. Another site that sells tix for all the train companies is www.TheTrainline.com.

See modification above.

Haven't we had reports of difficulties getting refunds when a train is canceled and the ticket was purchased from a third party like Omio?

Acraven. Yes. Except some of the national company websites are so bad that the 3rd party sites are better. Which goes back to, if the door to door flight time is the same or better than a train, why mess with a train?. Just look at all the questions and confusion on this forum with trains. Flights are a lot easier to identify and book.

Make your reservations now! The prices go up, and the trains sell out. We were in Barcelona last month, and we tried to change to an earlier train, but they were sold out all day.