Spain’s BEST High-Speed Train is… Italian??
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- Trains Are Awesome!
Date of filming: January 12, 2024
Camera: iPhone 14
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For the really nitpicky viewers (and let’s be real, there are a lot of you!) the station shown at 2:13 is Madrid Chamartin station. Makes no difference to the content of this video, but I thought I’d point it out.
Of course we are!
I wouldn't support a switch to open-access operation in the US unless I trusted the operators that were coming in. In a society more money-driven than any other, I'm afraid that competition might not improve serviceen But that's just my opinion.
@@noahottin4015 Open access is not necessarily bad if the whole thing is properly regulated. I think what is really problematic with the US model is that the infrastructure is owned by the freight operators and while there is a law that says to prioritize passenger traffic, there is no political will to enforce it.
If infrastructure is government owned and rail operators pay for using slots, competition will very quickly weed those out that deliver subpar service, as there are alternatives the consumer can go to. With private rail infrastructure operators there are no side-by-side railway lines the consumer can pick and choose from, as this would not make any economic sense.
@@Thom-TRA You make a very good point. Let's hope you're right! Assuming that ever happens.
My first ever trip to Europe was to Spain in February 2024, and thus my first ever ride on a high speed train was this exact Iryo route! That ride had left such a positive impression. Seeing this really made me miss Spain and the impeccable rail network they run.
Only the high speed network is impeccable (and not always). Everything else is terrible.
@@osasunaitor Definitely not terrible. Improvable, as everything, but not terrible. In fact, the biggest issue in Spain is probably frequencies.
@CityWhisperer frequencies are abysmal outside main cities, delays are the norm, the condition of trains is often neglected... I'm talking about regional and suburban trains mostly. Definitely not a good situation, and a far cry behind the flagship high-speed network
The fact that a train goes from the equivalent of Washington DC to Springfield, Massachusetts in just a little bit more than two hours is insane to my American mind.
And the trains can go city center to city center
I wish he could take the high speed train from the airport station directly. That would make a better alternative to flight transfers in Spain as well.
I believe the works to connect the airport to the high speed rail is in motion, but some alvia trains could definitely depart from there already.
Yes, it will happen soon
Madrid plans to do that, but since they dont know if its rly viable, they are still studying the situation...
I mean T4 to Chamartín isnt that far...
1:56 There are 24hour buses to the airport in Madrid, it connects the airport to the city center and departs every 35 minutes at nigh
I live in Pistoia in Tuscany, near the factory where the AV Frecciarossa 1000 trains are built.in particular these trains for Spain with the Iryo writing. Every day I saw them, passing in front of the factory square, being built piece by piece.
Daughter lives in Spain and I've ridden lots of trains over there, including Renfe, Iryo, and Ouigo. I agree Iryo is the best of the three. However, I worry whether the low fare competition is sustainable--I've seen stories about Ouigo and Iryo losing money and complaining about access fees. The expansion of highspeed rail has also resulted in the loss of some Renfe service on traditional lines to smaller communities.
Yes it is. It is manufactured between Pistoia (Tuscany) Hitachi Rail plant and Vado Ligure which is near Genoa for the electronic part (Bombardier Transportation Italy)
In my opinion, this is the best high speed train in Europe.
It’s nice to see more competition and lower prices between these two cities! Great video!
Took IRYO from Valencia to Madrid late last year. It's a really good service.
This is exactly the model that the USA should adopt since it's open-access and free-market friendly all while allowing a diverse product range especially for train fans.... Imagine an Interstate-Rail System running at 180 mph down the medians of all existing freeways whenever possible? MAKE IT SO, America!
Maybe all we have to do is give Elon and his VP credit for it, and then they’ll support it?
@@Thom-TRA Personally I do not think the Doge guy would support any kind of investment which might hurt his Tesla sales.
@@haj8579exactly the reason he tried to stop california HSR with his dumb hyperloop scam.
Why stop at 180? Lets go for ludicrous speeds like 220 ish
It's not free market, they're just run by diff govts.
Wow so cool ouigo operate trains into Spain fantastic
Thanks to you and Bear for a very informative video. Makes me want to go to Madrid just so I can ride the high speed train.
Harrison here! Just wanna say this was one of the coolest virtual train rides I’ve ever been on.
So glad to hear that!
In January 2024 I rode Iryo First Class (without food) from Barcelona to Madrid and Ouigo on the return. I didn't like Iryo's small cramped cafe with no seating and the bartender was cold as ice. For a small surcharge I sat at my favorite 2-seater table on the upper level in the smooth riding middle of Ouigo's former 2+1 first class car. The festive Ouigo cafe was what I like most about any train. I wish could share a couple of photos I took that illustrae how the two services compare.
The rough riding one-class Talgo was out of the question, but I rode
Renfe high speed train from Barcelona to Lyon on my way to Milan which required riding 4 trains because of the landslide detour.
We love Spain. Love the trains there.
I’ve taken the first train to Barajas from Nuevos Ministerios, which is before the Metro opens-which might be the only nice thing of having both
At the moment, C-1 is operating as a shuttle from the airport to Charmatin due to works at that station. In past years, some C-10 trains would run to the airport; C-1 trains would become C-7 trains at Principio Pio (except that first train of the day, which was from Atocha)
De moment nada, el cambio se hizo permanente hace 2 meses
La C-10 no volverá al aeropuerto
An advantage of riding trains over flying is that you don't have the hassle of going through security at the airport. In USA, TSA wants people to arrive 2 hours early before their flight. You don't have to arrive that early to catch a train
No but you have to go through security in Spanish high speed trains. Sure, it's not like airports but it's still the only place in Europe that does that and kinda pointless too considering regional trains and metros don't have any security whatsoever
Sorry to break to you but after 2020 there IS security in high speed trains now
No idea if its the same as airports but I still remember going to Chamartín after quarantine and lobby was so different (metal detectors and stuff like these)
I think it is only in spain@@varsik289
RENFE also operates Euromed which is a regional high speed train variant. Most rolling stock are made by Talgo with the exception of S-100 which is a TGV derivative. It is known to be seen in countries outside of the EU. Most notably KTX-1 in South Korea. AVE's Malaga line uses SIemans Valero which is also seen in Asia. As with Iryo, I never seen it
italy?
Euromed is a frequent long distance service connecting the Spanish Mediterranean cities. I think you meant Avant, which is the name of regional high speed services
@ oh that’s good to know.
Thank you for featuring this awesome video and for Bear’s awesome footage and narrative. To have the option of 17 trips a day between the two cities would be awesome!!!
There are actually 35 trips a day between both cities, between the 3 different operators
8:03 it’s very convenient on the off chance a Rodalies happens to be on time lol
favorite high speed train? im in america, we dont even have one.
Rip
yes we do
@@IndiigoAni we have faster trains, but not anything the civilized parts of the world would call high speed rail.
@@dfwrider3830 true true
Neither Acela nor Brightline Florida count @@IndiigoAni
Great video
American me: Imagines what it would be like to travel between DC and Boston at this speed.
I've done Madrid to Paris, w/ connection in Barcelona - I'm guessing it was Renfe as it was 2019. The layover was a bit long, but otherwise not a noteworthy journey. I did use a Eurail pass for the journey.
This was part of a bigger tour of Europe - later traveling from Paris to Berlin (direct, but the train switched head end at a station midway), and then Berlin to Rome (which was a disaster - I missed the departure, then had a 4hr delay for crew swap in Austria resulting in a missed connection until the next morning)
"Of Britain’s 23 major train operators, 18 are now foreign-run - 16 of them by European Union governments and two by China. A majority of the 1.7 billion passenger rail journeys undertaken in Britain each year are now on foreign-managed trains, in addition to most of its 4.5 billion bus trips." NYTimes 2018
Sounds like British companies are the problem
I mentioned you in a video today and you will recognize this one. Go check it out Thom.
Problem with the trains in Northern Europe is that the netwerk is already congested. Amsterdam - Schiphol is full, only option is to drive from Rotterdam and directly up on the HSL, next problem, Antwerp. Same counts for Germany. I guess this will work in area's where not so much people are living closeby.
in 2026 the Frecciarossa train will also arrive in Germany
@intersezioni yeah only Munich, no routes (yet) to Berlin, Frankfurt or Köln, because there is no space on the network.
Well, in Germany the problem is that they let the rail network rot for over 25 years and are now paying the consequences of that. Also, anything that is built in Germany is met with very strong NIMBYism (I'd love to see villages that protest a wind generators being taken off the power grid) that causes construction projects remain in the planning phase for very long which then leads to budget overruns because the budgets are 10 years out of date once they actually start working...
Frecciarossa 1000 is the best, wherever it is operated ❤
The trains in Spain run quickly across the plains
Looking at the train itself ETR1000 Iryo there is equipment for 15kv 16.7hz 1.5kv DC 25kv 50hz and 3kv DC. Since they are bringing it to Germany from the Austrian Italian border all the way to Germany they will be running on 15kv 16.7hz Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung system with LZB ETCS Sifa. One more thing there is a Spanish high-speed train that runs on the same speed as them and is able to change track gauge 1.435m to 1.668m track Talgo Avril S105
Still a shame that the Italians didn't bring over Executive Class as an option on this train, like they do at home. That's just simply the best train seat you can find in regular daily operation in Europe.
Yeah I was surprised about that
I think they did it as a result of the type of market: The Spanish rail market is a race to the bottom in prices. It means that people prefer the one that costs the least among the four offers. In Italy you can only dream of high speed for € 20.
The Madrid-Barcelona route is comparable in Italy to the Milan-Rome route, both in terms of the number of km and the importance of the two cities. Milan-Rome costs € 59.90 in "super Economy" and € 295.00 in "Executive". You can go from Milan to Rome starting from €19,00 with normal trains, no high speed.
@@MrItaliansoundthats actually not true, if you buy high speed train tickets in advance, they can get cheaper than the regional trains. For example, if I buy the Bologna-Milan train in advance, it will cost me 9€ and it only takes 1 hour, while if I buy the regional train it will cost 17€ and it takes 3 hours and half.
The fare from Reggio Emilia to Napoli (4 hours and 8 Min)with Italo start at €29,90.
The high-speed train network in Spain is the 2 nd largest of the world after of China
Yes, I mentioned that in the video
Amtrak, eat your heart out! 😂
Brilliant video sir, how does Bear afford all this train travel?
We should dedicate a series on his travel hacks
I used Iryo and AVLO Between Madrid and Barcelona. Overall, Iryo was a bit better because the train were more modern as older model of the Renfe AVE are used on AVLO. The trip on Iryo was a bit faster because AVLO stopped in Zaragoza while Iryo was direct. On the other way, ALVO was cheaper Iryo but the round trip was € 32 so, all good.
Thanks for the comparison!
Unfortunately the United States has fallen behind European & Asian countries that have better high-speed trains than we do. Some countries also have better subways that are always on time
Do the other countries have earthquakes?
@@chrisdobrowolski2783 of course. Japan has had earthquakes
@@chrisdobrowolski2783 Why did you ask this question?
@@MarioFanGamer659He is probably American and ignorant.
It is possible that it is in the TOP 3 of the best. Along with the S100 and S103, those two are very comfortable too. (OUIGO sucks)
Yes, IT IS.
In Italy you can only dream of high speed for € 20.
The Madrid-Barcelona route is comparable in Italy to the Milan-Rome route, both in terms of the number of km and the importance of the two cities. Milan-Rome costs € 59.90 in "super Economy" and € 295.00 in "Executive". You can go from Milan to Rome starting from €19,00 with normal trains, no high speed.
ma no, parte da 44 euro fino a 60 quella economica
@@andreasankara I tried to check the prices in Trenitalia site. From Milan to Rome the base price starts from 102,00€ for tomorrow morning, 74,90€ for the next week, 44,90€ if I wait for two weeks, 37,90€ for the next month (single ticket).
Trenitalia is owned 100% by the italian government. We should not pay more in Italy to allow trenitalia to run high speed trains in France or Spain. While the local trains suck, trenitalia bought the 100% of Hellenic Railways. Did you know that?
several companies work high speel trains in Spain. one of them is Italian, yes, another one is French, and the biggest, is Spanisj
Yes, I mention this in the video
The Italian train in Spain goes mainly on the plain
Rather, the Spanish-Italian train, because Iryo is a Spanish-Italian company...
@@rsnankivell1962 diciamola tutte il frecciarossa è spagnolo, speriamo che arrivi un giorno in Italia!
@@rsnankivell1962 che problemi hai nell'ammettere che il treno ad alta velocità migliore in Spagna è italiano? Vi fa sentire inferiori?
@@frangeesk per migliore cosa si intende poi? Il servizio-allestimento o il treno in senso tecnologico? A parte che il progetto del Frecciarossa 1000 è di Bombardier. Quindi se è il migliore tecnicamente è canadese e non italiano, se è il migliore per il servizio dipende se e quanto è uguale o perfino migliore di quello offerto in Italia, e chi ha deciso che servizio e allestimento offrire in Spagna. Non è scontato che sia stato un italiano.
@@mg4861 dai, fai il serio. Dire che il treno non sia italiano è disonesto. Che ci sia una collaborazione internazionale è palese. Tra l'altro il consorzio era Bombardier e AnsaldoBreda, dunque Finmeccanica, quindi già la tua affermazione scritta così è falsa. Il treno è prodotto in Italia da Hitachi Rail Italy e la parte meccanica dei carrelli da Bombardier Italy di Vado Ligure, il design è di Bertone, sempre Italia. Oggi i Frecciarossa 1000 sono prodotti solo in Italia.
Poi, se vuoi dire che Renfe e Ouigo Spagna a qualità di treni AV supera Iryo fai pure, ma la realtà dei fatti rimane la stessa. La Spagna ha fatto il salto di qualità grazie all'Italia, con buona pace degli spagnoli nazionalisti nervosetti.
Se vogliamo consolarli possiamo dire che la qualità ed estensione della loro rete AV supera quella italiana, così la smettono di fare capricci.
Ask Bear how was the security in Spain. Is it like security at airports?
what do u think is the best train in the world do think you cold film there see you saturday
Will our country, the United States of America catch up?
Check out my previous video
Today's challenge: name a European startup open access long distance train operator whose name does not end in "o".
Flixo
@Thom-TRA excellent!
It is not. Iryo's trains are good, but Siemens' Velaros (mostly used on the Barcelona-Madrid line) are more comfortable. Plus, Iryo trains have no reading lights nor seat pouches, which are essential features. Just an opinion. Thanks for the video :)
I guess reading lights are not that important to me
Best train?
That’s what most people say
yes, absolutely
Matter of opinion I guess
First
4:33 Exactly. Iryo is a Spanish-Italian company with a majority of Spanish shareholders (55% of the total), which belongs to 2 Spanish companies and the remaining 45% belongs to Trenitalia, the Italian company.
Why are some of you Spaniards so sensitive about this? It’s embarrassing.
And Trenitalia owns 51% of stocks, so your information is wrong too.
@Thom-TRA Wtf! Some Spaniards? Sorry, but that happens to some citizens of any country, not just Spain.
Why is it embarrassing to say that Iryo is not an Italian company but a Spanish-Italian one? Have I lied? You should read the jingoistic comments of some Italians on other channels about the subject...
Plus, your prejudiced American comment about "some" Spaniards is even more embarrassing, man!
Trenitalia has recently owned 51% of the shareholding, but it doesn't matter, it's a Spanish-Italian company, isn't it? So buh-bye.
@ I’m not an American, so you really are the ignorant one
@@Thom-TRA Now you're also insulting me... congrats.
Look kiddo, I don't mind what country you're from, your comment is still biased and prejudiced. THE END.
@@Thom-TRA Let me tell you... I'm living in Spain but I'm not from Spain, btw...🤣🤣
This wasnt founded by Italy.. the founder was literally from Spain. The propulsion and the motors are built in Spain, Italy builds the "Frecciarossa 1000" wagons.. i think a couple of months ago Italy bought up to 51% shares, but the rest still belongs to Spain.
It was literally Trenitalia who wanted to run this, so they ordered trains they already had an option for.
@@Thom-TRA Trenitalia (Italy) plus Air Nostrum (Spain) and Globalvia (Spain). It is a Spanish-Italian company, now 51% Italian and 49% Spanish.
@@javierjimenezmartinez5613 majority Italian, using Italian trains, upon initiative of the Italians. There is nothing wrong with calling this Italian.
This is an Italian venture with some Spanish capital. Not like it matters, it's 100% European so I don't see the problem
@ Yes, it's wrong, because it is not Italian, but Spanish-Italian. iryo started being 51% Spanish in capital and 49% Italian. Only some months ago it became 51% Italian and 49% Spanish, so it is not only Italian. Actually the official owner is the Spanish company ILSA, and the headquartes of iryo are in Madrid, not in Italy. And the initiative came from ILSA (Spanish company), together with Treintalia.
-not included in Interrail
enough said, the title of this video is wrong
Starting March 31st it will be included in interrail. I literally said that in the video.
@@Thom-TRAwe can debate if it will be the best after that then but right now it definitely isn‘t
did he change the title?
@@entized5671 "Best" ist at best subjective. To you, interrail may be a dealbreaker. To me, the value for money you get from iryo in their first class offering actually make it the best. But nice way to get edgy with "iT'S nOt tHe bEsT wHeN iT dOeSn'T dO wHaT i wAnT! WHAAAAAA"
@@Nix_TrainSpotter No, someone just gets their panties in a knot when a train service that doesn't accept interrail is praised.
Is that graffiti on those trains at 8:24? That is not good
That's quite common on Barcelona Regional trains, but not in Madrid.
@@rsnankivell1962 Unfortunately, it is also becoming common in Madrid. For years the conventional rail network-of which the commuter networks are part-has received comparatively little funding in favour of expanding the high speed rail network. And now money has to be put into fixing essentials and expanding service that hasn't seen any improvement in 20 years while population in the urban centres has skyrocketed. This means that graffiti clean-up and other cosmetic repairs happen on a strict schedule and not when defects or vandalism occurs.
You rarely talk about spanish trains...the largest network in Europe...and when you finally deign to talk about spain, you talk about an italian train. I find that a little offensive. It's like if you went to Italy to talk about the TGV from France. I see we are are not cool for you...but be fair, show some respect for my country.
If being offended over something stupid was an Olympic sport, you’d win gold. Do you people really have nothing better to do than get your feelings hurt?
By the way, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, and Poland all have larger rail networks.
UK: 16100 km of railway
Italy: 24500 km
France: 32000 km
Germany: 41800 km
Spain(also known as the 'largest network in Europe'😅): 15000 km
@ thanks for backing me up with statistics haha