Spain: Transport Minister accuses Huigo of unfair competition

He condemns “deeply unfair practices.” Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente slammed SNCF’s low-cost subsidiary Ouigo on Monday, accusing it of selling at a loss to increase its share of the passenger transport market at the expense of Spanish national company Renfe.

In an interview with Onda Cero radio, socialist Oscar Puente criticized Huigo for selling high-speed train tickets “far below” their cost, calling it a “deeply unfair” practice. According to him, the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez is studying the possibility of convicting Huigo before the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC).

Pointing out that liberalization of the railway market had brought “positive results”, in particular leading to a fall in prices, he believed that it had “reduced them to a level that is not sustainable” for companies competing for the market. , namely Renfe (which also has a budget subsidiary Avlo), Ouigo and Iryo, a subsidiary of Italian public company Trenitalia. “Competition must be fair and must allow the three companies to make a profit or at least not incur losses,” the minister continued.

Prices reduced by 40%

In an article published on Monday under the headline “Open war between the Ministry of Transport and Huigo over the continuing fall in prices”, the Catalan daily La Vanguardia emphasizes, citing a CNMV report on high-speed trains, that this three-way fight has led to a drop in prices of 40 % compared to the period when Renfe was still a monopolist, three years ago.

According to the newspaper Barcelona (northeast), the Spanish government believes that Ouigo’s pricing policy is not possible without the consent of the French authorities, since SNCF is a public company. Huigo has been present in Spain since May 2022.