Avlo (Spanish pronunciation: ['aβlo], short for Alta Velocidad Low Cost literally "No Frills High Speed" ) is a low-cost high-speed rail service operated by Spanish national rail company Renfe, offering services connecting major Spanish cities such as Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and others on specific high-speed lines.
High-speed railways in Spain have been in operation since 1992 when the first line was opened connecting the cities of Madrid, Córdoba and Seville. Unlike the rest of the Iberian broad gauge network, the Spanish High-speed network mainly uses standard gauge. This permits direct connections to outside Spain through the link to the French network at the Perthus Tunnel. High-speed trains run on a network of high-speed rail track owned and managed by ADIF (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias), where the dominant service is AVE while other high speed services such as Avant, Alvia, Avlo, Euromed, Ouigo España and Iryo, as well as mid-speed (InterCity) services also operate.
AVE trains are operated by Renfe, the national passenger high-speed rail operator in Spain, but other companies such as Ouigo España and Iryo compete on the Madrid–Barcelona and other routes in accordance with the European Union legislation. French TGV services run from the border to Barcelona under the TGV inOui brand. Alvia and Euromed trains are also operated by Renfe and have the ability to use both Iberian gauge and standard gauge lines offering high-speed services across the whole Spanish network.
Ouigo España is an open-access operator of high-speed railway services in Spain. It is a subsidiary of SNCF Voyageurs, the French national railway company, and uses its trademark Ouigo.
Ouigo España was set up in 13 December 2018 and was highly structured around SNCF's existing Ouigo domestic services in France. It competes with several other high speed operators in the Spanish market, such as the Spanish state-owned railway company Renfe's Avlo service and the open-access operator Iryo. Ouigo España had planned to launch services in December 2020, however, this was delayed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During May 2021, the initial service between Madrid and Barcelona was launched; within six months, one million passengers had reportedly travelled onboard its trains.