Rail passengers in Spain could soon benefit from cheaper train travel if they stand instead of being guaranteed a seat, the country’s transport minister has proposed.
Spain’s Minister of Transport Óscar Puente along with the president of national rail operator Renfe, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, have proposed a new rail ticket system which doesn’t guarantee a seat, meaning travellers could be standing most of the way instead of sitting.
In exchange for standing, they would benefit from a discounted rail fare.
At the end of 2025, Fernández said in an interview with the press: “We are working on a pilot programme; we want to conduct a test to see when it would be feasible,” he stated.
The Renfe head didn’t yet announce a date for when the trial will begin, however.
The idea is that the new ticketing system will first be introduced on medium-distance trains, as these are the most feasible given that passengers wouldn’t have to stand for too long.
It will also only be on trains where there is enough space for passengers to stand without disturbing those who are seated.
According to Fernández, medium-distance trains have between 5 and 10 percent of spare space available that could be allocated to passengers without assigned seats.
It will mean that passengers will have the option of traveling standing up on a full train, at a reduced fare, instead of having to wait for the next one.
The system is already operating successfully in many European countries such as France, Belgium, Italy, and Germany.
On these networks, there is no specific ticket for standing, but there is an option offered by the French SNCF, German Deutsche Bahn or Italian Trenitalia railways if the passenger wants to travel on a train where there are no seats available.
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On the French Regional Express (TER) network, it is common for train tickets to be purchased without a guaranteed seat. When trains are full, passengers can board without a seat, and if they end up standing, they pay a reduced fare.
In Germany, passengers can board both long-distance and regional trains, even when seats are full. In this case, passengers can look for available seats or stay standing up.
In Italy, tickets purchased to travel on a regional train is only for travel, not for a seat, something that happens in Belgium too.
In fact, this system is already in place in Spain to some extent on the commuter rail systems – Cercanías, and Rodalies in Catalonia. Tickets for these services don’t include seat reservations either and people often end up standing during busier times. They don’t, however, get a cheaper ticket.
“On the Rodalies network, on the regional trains [in Catalonia], people travel without seat reservations, and there are people who travel both sitting and standing, and this hasn’t resulted in problems,” argued the president of Renfe.
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According to rail experts, allowing passengers to travel standing up would require not only changing tickets but also modifying the insurance that covers all passengers.
Currently the insurance conditions are linked to the number of seats, but this would need to change so that standing passengers would also be covered.
The plan has received both praise and criticism from different associations.
Carlos Perfecto, president of the group representing frequent train users in Castile and León, says it’s “a very good measure” because it allows people to travel instead having to wait for another train.
“I hope they do it as soon as possible because it would benefit everyone who depends on the train,” he told news site 20 Minutos.
However, the president of the Toledo Train Users Association (AUTT), Beatriz Cano, considers it “unfeasible” and believes it means that the system is “moving backwards”.
