Spanish Transport Minister accuses Ouigo of dumping

The Spanish Minister of Transport severely criticized, Monday April 1, the low-cost subsidiary of SNCF Ouigo. Oscar Puenté accused the French firm of selling at a loss to increase its market share in passenger transport at the expense of the Spanish national company Renfe, in an interview with Onda Cero radio. The left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez, he said, is studying the possibility of denouncing Ouigo before the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC).

While indicating that the liberalization of the rail market had brought “positive things”in particular by leading to a drop in prices, Oscar Puenté estimated that it had “reduced to a level that was not sustainable” for companies competing for the market, namely Renfe, Ouigo and Iryo, a subsidiary of the Italian public company Trenitalia. Ouigo has been present in Spain since May 2022.

Competition has driven prices down by 40%

In an article published Monday under the title “Open war between the Ministry of Transport and Ouigo because of the continued drop in prices”the Catalan daily La Vanguardia points out, citing a CNMC report on high-speed trains, that this three-way fight has caused prices to fall by 40% compared to when Renfe still had a monopoly, three years ago.

According to the Barcelona daily, the Spanish government considers that the pricing policy practiced by Ouigo would not be possible without the agreement of the French authorities, since SNCF is a public company.