General Information

• All AVE and long-distance trains have a bar-buffet and/or a restaurant car ( wagón restaurante) with waiter service. Medium distance trains have a refreshment trolley ( carrito de restauración) offering drinks and snacks at your seat. Note that catering on trains is expensive and isn’t good quality by Spanish standards (many passengers prefer to provide their own picnic).

• Main railway stations provide a variety of services, including an information booth; tourist office; post office; accommodation service; luggage lockers and storage; wash, shower and brush-up facilities; car rental; telephones; cafeterias and restaurants; bank with ATMs; currency exchange; photocopiers; instant passport photograph machines and assorted shops and kiosks.

• Smoking is forbidden on all trains, including sleeping cars. Smoking is only permitted on platforms.

• Public telephones are available on AVE and other fast trains, and accept domestic and international calls. They must be used with a Telefónica phone card available from train cafeterias.

• Platforms ( andenes) aren’t always clearly numbered, so make sure you’re waiting at the correct one. Lines often have different numbers from platforms, which can be confusing. The destination of trains is usually written or displayed on the outside of carriages.

• Car parks are often provided close to railway stations, where long-term parking costs around €12 per day (monthly season tickets are available to commuters).

• You can rent a car from many main railway stations and leave it at another major city station. Cars can be reserved at travel agencies to coincide with your train journey.

• Beware of thieves when travelling on trains and try to store your bags in an overhead rack where you can keep an eye on them.

• Self-service luggage lockers ( consignas) and left-luggage offices are usually available at major railway stations, but for security reasons they may be closed. Main stations also have left luggage offices open from around 8am until 10pm. Luggage forwarding up to 20kg is free for long-distance rail passengers.

Buying Tickets

Buying train tickets ( billetes) can be confusing, as there’s a baffling range of fares ( precios/importes) and trains to choose from. Confusion is widespread and ticket office clerks aren’t always familiar with the variety of special tickets and reductions available. You should double check to ensure that you pay the lowest possible fare for a journey . Fares for long-distance and high-speed trains, such as AVE, are published in leaflets available from stations and RENFE offices, and all fare information is available on the RENFE website (http://www.renfe.es ). Children under four years of age travel free (including sleeping accommodation) and those aged between 4 and 11 (inclusive) travel for half fare on local trains and for a 40 per cent discount on regional ( regionales) trains.

Tickets can be purchased at station ticket windows ( taquillas de billetes), from ticket machines ( máquinas de billetes) accepting cash and credit cards, at RENFE offices, and from RENFE appointed travel agents. Tickets can also be bought online or by telephone through RENFE’s secure booking service, TIKNET, requiring online or telephone registration, a code name and password, both of which must be used in order to buy tickets. TIKNET ( 902-157 507) is open from 7am to 11pm.

The first time you buy tickets you must collect them in person from any RENFE station where you must show some identification (passport or residence permit) and give the booking reference number. Tickets bought in subsequent purchases can be printed or collected from your departure station (up to one hour before the train leaves), on the train, if it’s a long-distance journey, on regional or Grandes Líneas trains or at access point to AVE, Talgo and Lanzadera trains.

A single ticket is un billete de ida and a return (round trip) is ida y vuelta. There may be an information ( información) or international information window at major stations, where staff may speak English and other foreign languages. A ticket must be purchased and validated before boarding a train, unless there’s no ticket office (or it’s closed) at the station where you’re boarding. It’s possible to buy a ticket on a train from the ticket collector/conductor ( revisor), although you may need to pay a surcharge, depending on the type of train and the length of your journey.

It usually pays to avoid station ticket windows, where there are usually long queues, and buy your ticket at a RENFE office, from a travel agent, by phone or online. Ticket windows at stations usually open around an hour before train departures (but in some cases, open just a few minutes before a train is due to arrive). To purchase a ticket at some stations you must take a number from a machine and wait for it to be called (so you must understand Spanish numbers).

At main stations, there are a number of ticket windows, which may include local trains ( cercanías) and long-distance ( largos recorridos), advance tickets ( venta anticipada) and imminent departure ( venta inmediata) i.e. up to two hours before departure. There’s also usually a window for international tickets ( billetes internacionales) at some stations in Madrid and Barcelona. A computerised RENFE ticket shows the train number ( No Tren), carriage ( coche) and seat number ( No Plaza).

There are two classes on most long-distance trains: first class ( preferente) and second/tourist class ( turista). On some services, such as fast AVE trains, there are three fare classes: turista, preferente and club. Some trains such as Intercity and TEE international trains are first class only.

There are different fares depending on the type of train ( tipo de tren) and how long the journey takes. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive fare can be as much as 150 per cent. Apart from the extra cost, it’s best to avoid travelling on public holidays or over long weekends ( puentes), when the whole nation takes to the rails (those that aren’t on the roads).

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 706