Train finders find only very few peripheral connections in Spain
To give a specific example: For travelling in June from Valencia to Barcelona, https://bahn.de gives only two connections per day, both in the early morning, one from each of the two train stations of Valencia.
Other train finder web sites, or other peripheral connections between Spanish towns has similar results. There is only a reasonably broad offer for AVE trains from and to Madrid.
Has Spain's train system really been reduced that badly? Or are trains hidden from web sites? Is it due to COVID-19-related reservation restrictions?
Best Answer
In addition to the good answer by Chris H, two more things to keep in mind:
- Bahn.de does not know about all Spanish trains — the problem with trains missing from Bahn.de is worst around a timetable change. Generally speaking, the further you get from Germany, the less complete Bahn.de is. The same applies to other travel planners using the same database/booking system, known as HAFAS.
- For Barcelona - Valencia this should not be much an issue, but the RENFE website sucks for connections that include a transfer. Such connections may be not shown at all, or only shown incompletely.
For trains in Spain, you might find your booking experience better with the third party website the trainline (no affiliation). This will also show you fares from the low-cost competitor Ouigo España, that the RENFE website probably doesn't. However, where RENFEs own trains are not yet shown in the RENFE booking system, they very likely aren't shown in thetrainline yet either.
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