Although the long distances theoretically favour night trains, the Iberian Peninsula has become a blind spot on the European railway map. Spanish transport policy is fully committed to high speed and self-sufficiency in long-distance passenger transport. And the incumbent operator Renfe claims that it is generally impossible to run night trains profitably without subsidies (although at least some of its night train routes were still profitable in 2014). Consequently, the last routes were closed in 2020, suitable vehicles mothballed, sold or converted to day trains.
We would like to change that. We think that the discontinuation of the night train service was short-sighted and wrong. Options for improvement were not explored due to lack of interest and the urgent need for a climate-friendly alternative to medium-haul flights was not recognised.
We are not yet an active group, just a list of interested people who want to build a specific lobbying for night trains in (and from and via) Spain. Would you join us?