The new 17-city train that is launching in Europe this summer and it takes just three hours
A BRAND new train route that connects a number of cities across Europe in just three hours is set to launch this summer.
Spanish rail operator Renfe announced it would be expanding its services outside of its borders with a fresh link to the south of France.
A fresh high-speed operation is set to launch later this year between Barcelona, in north-east Spain, and Toulouse in southern France.
The new route won't just connect these two major cities however, and will reach a total of 17 destinations overall.
It should be noted that are yet to be finalised, with Renfe having submitted a request to the European Union Railway Agency for an extension of its safety certificate.
Once it has been approved, the railway operator will then be allowed to run services in Toulouse and can then begin training staff and organising its schedules.
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What we do know now is that the service is set to run six times a day, three times in each direction, on a seasonal basis from April until mid-September.
Its operations could be extended further if demand is high enough, and the journey time between Toulouse and Barcelona is expected to be around three and a half hours.
The route is expected to make stops in Girona and Figueres in northern Spain as well as Perpignan and the popular tourist spot of Carcassonne in southern France.
Renfe has also said the new route will connect through links from Madrid, Zaragoza, Tarragona, Valencia, Lleida and Castellón if the requested schedules are confirmed.
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This follows the successful launch of Renfe services to Marseille and Lyon in 2023, which also serve Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Valence, Nîmes, Montpellier and Narbonne.
The exact launch date of services will be confirmed in the near future, as will ticket prices.
Renfe has said it is keen for its new trains to align with services in France in order to optimise potential passenger connections.
However, this is yet to be confirmed, according to the .
The Spanish rail operator said demand for its services filled trains up to 80 per cent of their capaicty in the company's first year of operation in France.
It claimed there was a very positive response to its services which offer "attractive prices with high levels of quality and service excellence."
NEW DIRECT TRAIN SERVICES FROM UK TO EUROPE
This comes as new plans have been revealed to expand international train routes from the UK which would double the number of European countries on offer.
Routes have been suggested connecting the UK to seven other cities in Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy.
A planned expansion of London St Pancras International station to allow for this would see as many as 5,000 passengers travel through an hour.
Yann Leriche, the chief executive of Getlink, said: "We are keen to drive forward attractive opportunities for low-carbon [travel] with a range of new destinations in Germany, Switzerland and France."
A spokesperson for London St Pancras Highspeed added: "Many European cities could be reached directly by train in under six hours which we believe is really competitive with short-haul air travel."
However, the plans are rather ambitious, with no set time frame for when these could launch.
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And not only that, but the only current operator in the UK is Eurostar, although both Virgin and Evolyn have revealed rival plans for European routes.
It's hoped new services could reach the major cities of Marseille and Bordeaux in France, Cologne and Frankfurt in Germany, Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland, and Milan in Italy.
