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Making a reservation on the train between Nimes and Madrid

  • February 23, 2025
  • 7 replies
  • 135 views
A

Hello

I’ve tried every option I can find to make a reservation on the fast train between Nimes and Madrid for mid May. (So within the 90 day limit). On Rail Europe it won’t let me select a ticket. And on the Interrail website it tells me I can’t book this route. The best advice I’ve seen is to ring the Renfe reservations line but I speak no Spanish so am wondering how viable an option that is.

Hoping someone can advise me what I need to do. I’m trying to get to Andalucia but had planned to spend a couple of days in Madrid.

Many thanks

Annette Mercer

Best answer by eurocity101

Hello

Don’t book your reservation through the RENFE reservation line. You’d have to collect your reservation at a ticket office in Spain which is obviously impossible for you.

Normally, the best place to book Spanish reservations is happyrail.com by changing tickets to reservations. But at the moment, I also get an error when trying to book this particular train. So I think there is once again a problem with the connection to Renfes reservation system.

The only option remaining is to keep trying. I often had short disruptions when trying to book Spanish trains through the Interrail reservation service recently.

7 replies

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Railly clever
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  • eurocity101
  • Railly clever
  • Answer
  • February 23, 2025

Hello

Don’t book your reservation through the RENFE reservation line. You’d have to collect your reservation at a ticket office in Spain which is obviously impossible for you.

Normally, the best place to book Spanish reservations is happyrail.com by changing tickets to reservations. But at the moment, I also get an error when trying to book this particular train. So I think there is once again a problem with the connection to Renfes reservation system.

The only option remaining is to keep trying. I often had short disruptions when trying to book Spanish trains through the Interrail reservation service recently.

I'm NOT working for Interrail/Eurail.
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Railmaster
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
  • February 24, 2025

It should also work on interrail.eu but there, I can only see prices until 26/3. On renfe.com, I see trains can be booked until 13/12.

​@Eurail Community Moderator Could you please check why AVE Marseille-Madrid can only be booked 1 month in advance?

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
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Eurail Community Moderator
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Hi ​@rvdborgt, thanks for bringing this up, and apologies for this technical issue ​@Annette68 ! We’ve reported this to our reservation team to check what’s going on.

In the meantime, we’d suggest keeping an eye on our reservation system and HappyRail over the next week or two. If it’s still not bookable after that, feel free to reach out to our Customer Support team, and they can look into alternative options for you.

Hope this helps!

Please note that we can't reply to private messages at the moment. Thanks for your understanding. Do feel free to tag us with any questions or updates!
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  • Annette68
  • Author
  • Right on track
  • February 26, 2025

Thanks all for your feedback. I will keep trying with RailEurope and Happy Rail and hope to get a result eventually. At least I have plenty of time to sort it out.

 

Annette 😀

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  • Adrian Cook
  • Rail rookie
  • February 26, 2025

I have spent two hours trying to book any trip whatsoever in Spain for March, April or May 2025 from Malaga, Madrid, Seville, Ronda, Bilbao or Granada and for EVERY journey I get one of the following messages:

Seat reservations required

You need to buy a seat reservation to board.

Not available from Interrail.eu

This seat reservation can’t be booked on our website. Check 'More information' for other ways to book

OR

Seat reservations required

You need to buy a seat reservation to board.

No price results were found. Pass holder reservations may be sold out for this connection, but there are other ways to check for available seats—more info below our timetable.

 

Is everyone else having the same problem or am I doing something wrong; the trains can’t all be sold out.

Further it often states ‘Not available from interrail.eu’ however the route is clearly shown as valid on the network map.

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Railmaster
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
  • February 26, 2025

I have spent two hours trying to book any trip whatsoever in Spain for March, April or May 2025 from Malaga, Madrid, Seville, Ronda, Bilbao or Granada and for EVERY journey I get one of the following messages:

There can be various reasons, such as:

  • Renfe has opened bookings yet for your train. To verify this, check whether you see prices on renfe.com for your train.
  • interrail.eu can't book your train (e.g. MD trains)
  • There's a problem with your particular train.

If you want to know more details, then please specify route, date and departure time for each train you'd like to book.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
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Eurail Community Moderator
Eurail Community Moderator
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Hi ​@Annette68,

Just a quick update: the seat reservation you mentioned for mid-May is now available again through our reservation service! We checked using an incognito window and found it open for booking. You should also be able to access it by clearing your cache and cookies and trying again on a regular page.

Check out the image below. We hope this helps!

 

Please note that we can't reply to private messages at the moment. Thanks for your understanding. Do feel free to tag us with any questions or updates!
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ralderton
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