Renfe

[biloute]

I've been trying to search for trains on Renfe, to estimate how much they'll be and at what time, but it just keeps telling me there is no train! And I know there is... Is there a trick to using Renfe's site?

 

[AZgirl]

How far out are you searching?

Not sure where you are located but this site was listed on another thread for north Americans, it might be easier.
http://petrabax.com/

Ash

 

[biloute]

I was searching for March, but I've also tried January and February, to no avail. Madrid to Mérida.

 

[peregrina2000]

RENFE is a horrible website to use, IMO. But I plugged in Madrid to Merida on January 9 and got these trains, ranging from 4 to 7 hours in duration, around 40 euros price

Leaving from Atocha at 8 am, 10:15, 2:19 pm (have to transfer, longest trip), 3:45 pm, 4:00 pm.

If they are not showing trains for your date yet, it means they haven't figured it out yet, I think.

But I'll bet the schedule will be similar to the one I've seen for January. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[jirit]

Suggest you also check with the german rail site which normally has all the schedules for all trains in Europe for the year - won't get the price but you should be able to confirm the times and routing - which can change throughout the year.

 

[Neil Thomas]

You are too far ahead of yourself for a date in March. Simply look to an imminent date on RENFE's site to find what will almost certainly be available, little or nothing will change before June next with the schedules or pricing. And any other website or agency site is reliant on RENFE's input and should not be trusted to provide all daily detail. You should monitor on a weekly basis until closer to the time and then monitor daily until you can see all and purchase.This could be as early as 60 days before.
A guide (one of many) to purchase on line and discounting is here - http://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.htm#How_to_use_www.renfe.com

 

[piogaw]

Renfe madrid to merida. The new schedule is not out yet. Information on the last schedule for 17/01/2014. If you are coming from madrid barajas airport, you can buy ticket at the renfe station for madrid*-merida. You ticket will include the free commuter train (cercanias) to madrid atocha station where you will board your train for merida. As stated by laurie, the schedules will be more or less the same.

On this particular day, there are 4 trains departing for merida.
R express 17014 Dep 08.07. Arr 13.11. Duration. 5h 4 min Price 2nd cl. 30.25€
Intercity 17900. 10.18. 15.08. 4h. 50 min. 36.30
Md 99778. 14.32. 21.42. 7h 10 min. 41.20
Note: you have to transfer to another train, so i don't recommend it.
Intercity 17194. 16.19. 20.49. 4h 30 min. 36.30

I hope this helps. Buen camino

 

[KalieJoPT]

For the official U.S. representative for RENFE visit Palace Tours' website at http://www.palacetours.com/renfe/ or call 1-800-724-5120 for help.

 

[biloute]

Renfe madrid to merida. The new schedule is not out yet. Information on the last schedule for 17/01/2014. If you are coming from madrid barajas airport, you can buy ticket at the renfe station for madrid*-merida. You ticket will include the free commuter train (cercanias) to madrid atocha station where you will board your train for merida. As stated by laurie, the schedules will be more or less the same.

On this particular day, there are 4 trains departing for merida.
R express 17014 Dep 08.07. Arr 13.11. Duration. 5h 4 min Price 2nd cl. 30.25€
Intercity 17900. 10.18. 15.08. 4h. 50 min. 36.30
Md 99778. 14.32. 21.42. 7h 10 min. 41.20
Note: you have to transfer to another train, so i don't recommend it.
Intercity 17194. 16.19. 20.49. 4h 30 min. 36.30

I hope this helps. Buen camino

Thanks. I finally found a schedule for a similar day by looking on Jan. 12. I tried the same thing for the following Sunday and got nothing. Do they do schedules a month at a time, or a certain chunk of dates? Also, how does purchasing the ticket online work? Can I purchase them ahead of time and pick them up when we arrive, or would it be better to wait until we get there and purchase all our tickets for the trip in person at the same time? I've only purchased them in person in France, but I was living there at the time and could just walk down to the station.

 

[piogaw]

Hello,

First of all where are you coming from? If you are from north america, you are going to have some problems with using your credit card to purchase renfe tickets directly. If you live in europe, you can purchased ticket online using your credit card. I have no experience with purchasing tickets online from other continent as i live in europe. I have heard that if you have a paypal account, it is possible for you to buy renfe tickets online. There are other peregrinos who can advised you on this topic.

Now i don't always have smooth sailings with trying to access renfe online. Sometimes i am unable to access them even from london. I believe the schedules from the 18th of january has not been released yet. So just be patience. For more information, try to access the Man_in_Seat_61 on www.tripadvisor.co.uk.

Am i to assume that you are trying to book advanced discounted tickets? If not, you can always buy your ticket at the renfe office in madrid barajas airport. All ticket sold on the medium and long distance trains come with mandatory seat reservation. Renfe will not sell you a ticket if they are no seats left with exception of local trains.

In case you are able to buy ticket online, you will still need your locator number to pick up your ticket at the ticket machine in the train station or from the ticket window.

Good luck.

 

[piogaw]

Sorry biloute,

If you can give me more info as to your arrival date and time and what airline and what terminal. And how many pax and when do you want to depart madrid for merida, i will monitor the renfe site and let you know as soon as they release the schedule.

 

[whariwharangi]

I was able to get information about trains Madrid to Merida for December and for January 16 but not for January 23. It looks to work only about a month forward so its too early to try and get information for March.

Sometimes there are problems if your destination requires a transfer point but thats not the case here.

There are at least 3 direct and 1 or more that require a transfer daily.

I've only used the train system on 2 occasions ... I had no trouble buying a ticket at the station. So unless your time of travel is critical or timings are a bit tight I'd wait to purchase ... that allows max flex in your time appreciation. And, oh yeah, ... if you travel on holidays ...

Important to note that there are two train stations in Madrid: Atocha and Chamartin.
The trains to Merida that I looked at all stop at Atocha. Some but not all of them stop at Chamartin. Make sure you know where to go to catch your train of choice.