Spain's high‑speed rail ridership drops 21% in Q1 2026

In the first quarter of 2026, Spain’s high‑speed rail (AVE, Avlo, Ouigo, Iryo) saw a 21.3% decline in passengers compared with the same period a year earlier, falling to just over three million users in March. Overall long‑distance rail travel contracted 19.6% year‑on‑year, with a 15.8% drop in March. The downturn follows the Adamuz accident in Córdoba and repeated track failures that have repeatedly severed connections to Andalusia, prompting emergency repairs ahead of regional elections.

While rail use fell, inter‑urban bus travel rose 4% year‑on‑year to 84.3 million passengers in March, and urban public transport grew modestly, with total public‑transport ridership up 0.5% and metro usage up 4.6% in the same month. The contrasting trends highlight shifting passenger preferences amid ongoing rail service disruptions.

Government officials, including Transport Minister Óscar Puente, had been warned for months about the deteriorating state of the rail network, but repairs remained limited, exacerbating the decline in high‑speed travel.