Frecciarossa Iryo
Marietta Bleasdale
Nasce iryo. Si chiama cos il marchio commerciale di Trenitalia in Spagna che unisce le parole "andare" e "io" in spagnolo e che entro il 2022 inizier a viaggiare sui binari iberici dell'alta velocit fra le principali citt, iniziando dalla rotta Madrid-Barcellona.
Nella splendida cornice del giardino tropicale della stazione di Atocha a Madrid, ILSA, la partecipata di Trenitalia e Air Nostrum, ha presentato a istituzioni e media spagnoli e all'Ambasciatore italiano in Spagna, Riccardo Guariglia, il nuovo nome commerciale dell'azienda e la nuova livrea con cui il Frecciarossa 1000, mantenendo le caratteristiche tecniche e il colore rosso invariato, si presenter ai passeggeri.
Parole di soddisfazione sono giunte da esponenti del Governo e di ADIF (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias) e proprio l'Ambasciatore ha ricordato il legame fra Italia e Spagna in ambito ferroviario visto che la prima linea ferroviaria Napoli-Portici fu commissionata da Ferdinando II, sovrano di origini spagnole.
Grazie all'assegnazione da parte di ADIF, gestore dell'infrastruttura ferroviaria iberica, del 30% dei collegamenti alta velocit, iryo unir in una prima fase Madrid, Barcellona, Siviglia, Malaga, Cordoba, Valencia, Alicante e Saragozza per poi estendersi ad altri collegamenti.
Quello visto alla stazione di Atocha il primo dei 20 nuovi Frecciarossa 1000 costruiti da Hitachi e Bombardier con le stesse caratteristiche di quelli in circolazione nel nostro Paese. Il treno italiano riciclabile per la quasi totalit e consente un risparmio dell'80% di anidride carbonica per passeggero a tratta e, proprio per questi motivi, ha ottenuto la Certificazione di Impatto Ambientale (EPD).
ILSA ha gi investito in Spagna circa un miliardo di euro e prevede di generare 2.600 posti di lavoro fra diretti e indiretti e di attirare 50 milioni di passeggeri in dieci anni. Nel suo discorso alla presentazione del nuovo marchio, Simone Gorini, CEO di ILSA, ha sottolineato l'importanza di offrire un'esperienza di viaggio adatta alle esigenze dei passeggeri in termini di personalizzazione, digitalizzazione e sostenibilit. Aggiungendo anche che l'obiettivo principale porre il treno come modalit principale di trasporto per un futuro pi sostenibile al centro di una mobilit sempre pi connessa e multimodale.
Anche Carlos Bertomeu, Presidente di ILSA, ha spiegato l'importanza del progetto evidenziando come Trenitalia sia il miglior socio da avere accanto in questa avventura perch ha gi sperimentato la concorrenza e possiede enorme know how nell'ambito dell'alta velocit. Ha poi proseguito che ILSA punter su una formula basata sull'attenzione massima alla parte operativa, sulle tecnologie all'avanguardia e su un servizio differenziato da offrire ai passeggeri.
La societ di trasporto di FS Italiane presente anche in Francia con Trenitalia France, dove entro fine anno avvier collegamenti fra Milano e Parigi con il Frecciarossa 1000, in UK con Avanti West Coast e c2c, in Germania con Netinera, operatore del trasporto regionale secondo solo a Deutsche Bahn, e in Grecia con Trainose.
Europe's network of high speed railways is gradually being opened to competition, the national operators such as SNCF in France and DB in Germany still dominate, but in Italy, the Italo services have offered an alternative to Trenitalia's Frecce services for many years now.
Multiple train services by different operators are also already available on the Madrid to Barcelona route, and now a new operator, iryo is also launching high speed rail services in Spain.
The iryo services will match the speed of the AVE services, as they will either be non-stop between Barcelona and Madrid (2 x departures per day) or will only be making one intermediate call in Zaragoza (4 x departures per day).
The iryo trains also include an on board bar at which a Tapas Menu is available, which all travellers can access during a journey.
So travellers booking both types of 'Singular' service can opt to either pay for the Market Menu to be served at their seats, or leave their seats and purchase items from the Tapas Menu in the bar car.
Although in common with the AVE trains operated by Renfe, the types of ticket available to travel in each of the four 'classes', offer more than the access to the different service levels on the train.
Because the tickets which are available for each of the classes of on-board service also have specific terms and conditions.
Off train benefits
The types of ticket required for the Infinita and Singular Cafe on board services also offer access to the iryo Space at the Hotel Only You Atocha, located next to Puerta de Atocha station in Madrid.
Book Incial and Singular tickets and your seats will be in the equivalent of 2nd/Standard Class, book Singular Cafe and Infinita tickets and your seats will be in the equivalent of first/premiere class.
In common with the ticket pricing policy for most European high speed rail journeys, limited numbers of tickets will be available at each price, as each quota of tickets available at the cheaper price sell out, they are replaced with tickets at more expensive prices.
Similarly to how the tickets which Renfe makes available for its AVE services are sold, the terms of using the tickets to travel on iryo services, differ according to the class which you will be travelling by.
Note that a core difference between Flexible and Abierta tickets is that the Abierta tickets can be exchanged to travel on a different date, without the difference in cost between the original booking and the price to travel by the alternative train, having to be paid.
So with Abierta tickets you have the peace of mind of knowing that you can travel on a different date to that which you originally selected, without having to pay more money, despite the likelihood that the price, of what is in effect your replacement ticket, having risen since the time of your original booking.
When looking up a journey on the iryo website only the prices per departure of Incial Flexible, Singular Flexible and Infinita Flexible tickets will be shown.
When more than one person will be travelling together, the price shown will be the price per ticket and not the total price for the entire party.
If you want to travel in Infinita Class with the additional benefits of an Abierta ticket, you can add it to the booking of Infinita Flexible tickets as an upgrade.
Though two options for the Infinita Abierta tickets will be available, because you can opt to pay less and then not have access to the complimentary Bistro menu,
If you want to travel in the Singular Cafe class, what isn't particularly obvious is that you can only do so by opting to upgrade Incial Flexible or Singular Flexible tickets.
To book a Singular Cafe Abierta ticket you can upgrade a Singular Flexible ticket.
To book a Singular Cafe Flexible ticket you can upgrade an Incial Flexible ticket.
An unconventional aspect of iryo's ticketing is that it doesn't offer dedicated rates for child tickets, when travelling with children.
Those aged 0-3 don't require a ticket if they travel on an adult's lap, but they will need a ticket if they are placed in a seat.
Children aged 4-13 travel at the 'standard' rate = the same price as Adult tickets.
In common with the general policy for travelling with dogs on other Spanish high speed trains you can take a dog with you if it weighs less than 10kg and it is transported in a pet carrier
On the iryo trains the maximum size of the pet carrier is 60x35x35 cm, but this is in line with the national rail operator Renfe's policy.
The policies around travel with bikes and dogs, as well as the the availability of on-board entertainment and the bar car are all very similar to what's available on the national rail operator, Renfe's AVE services.
The comparison between booking tickets in the equivalent of 1st/premier class is more similar, but a key difference is that if you book a Prmium ticket for an AVE service and then cancel your trip, you will receive a refund of 95% of the ticket cost, but you will receive 100% if you have booked an Infinita Abierta for travel on a iyro service.
If you will be travelling with children aged 5 -13 it's definitely worth making the comparison of the total booking price between iryo and the AVE trains which can be booked on the Renfe website.
Children aged 5 -13 and under are entitled to a 40% discount when travelling on AVE trains, but on the iryo services they are charged at the standard, Adult rate.
Prior starting the commercial services, Iryo an official inauguration was held on November 21, 2022, at Joaqun Sorolla station in Valencia with a maiden journey between Madrid and Valencia which saw aboard Raquel Snchez, the Spanish Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Mara Luisa Domnguez, the President of Adif, Carlo Palasciano Villamagna, Chief International Officer of FS Group, Luigi Corradi, CEO of Trenitalia, and other officials.
From 31 March 2023, iryo will start passenger services Seville, Malaga, Antequera and Cordova and on 2 June it will also reach Alicante and Albacete thanks to 20 Frecciarossa 1000 train fleet. The high-speed trains are made with 95% recyclable materials, have reduced consumption compared to previous generation trains and are able to contain CO2 emissions per passenger-kilometre to 28 grams. For these reasons, they are the first trains to have obtained the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).
In 2020, Trenitalia awarded Hitachi Rail and Bombardier Transportation a EUR 797 million contract for the supply of 23 ETR 1000 trains (Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed trains) to be operated by Iryo on the Spanish high-speed network. Each train will be approximately 200 metres long with capacity for 460 passengers and capable of commercial speeds of up to 360 km/h.
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