PROPERTY SEARCH
ARCHIVED - Renfe suspends Madrid-Alicante ticket sales ahead of summer season
Ticket sales from Spain's capital to Alicante have been suspended from June 30
Just as temperatures begin to soar and hundreds of thousands of residents in Spain's capital Madrid plan long-awaited breaks to Alicante's coastline, rail company Renfe has suspended ticket sales from June 30 – right on the cusp of the summer season.
The firm denies that sales have been actually been suspended, but the reality is that passengers trying to book seats on the Madrid-Alicante line from the end of this month are unable to do so. The move has been blasted as "unacceptable" and central government is being urged to "rectify the situation".
The fact that travellers are currently unable to purchase seats after June 30 has thrown holiday plans into disarray for thousands of people who had booked hotels or apartments in Alicante, and now have to find alternative transport.
You might like: Animal group urges Renfe to allow larger dogs on Spanish trains
However, Renfe has assured that it "has not suspended the sale of tickets between Madrid and Alicante" and that the company "is waiting for the new traffic patterns to be established that will allow the sale to be re-established as of July 1".
"This is a normal procedure in the railway system all over the world, and in Spain it has occurred or is occurring on other lines and services. In this way, we are working to avoid any disruption for passengers," the railway company said in a press release.
All the same, the Regional Minister of Transport and Infrastructures for the Community of Madrid, David Pérez, has asked the central government to "revoke the decision".
"No minimally responsible manager can think of a worse time to suspend the AVE between Madrid and Alicante when so many hundreds of thousands of Madrid citizens choose this province for their holidays, and when there are so many links between the two provinces", said Perez.
Adding that the timing "is inopportune and the decision is unacceptable", the minister demanded that "the AVE between Madrid and Alicante is not suspended on June 30 or at any other time".
Now read: Deafblind man refused entry to a Renfe bus to Lorca because he was travelling with his guide dog
Image: Renfe
staff.inc.ali
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
