The president of Renfe, Mr Isaías Táboas, announced the figures on January 23 during Fitur, the International Tourism Fair in Spain.
Táboas says growth was especially high on the Cercanías suburban network in Madrid, where 256 million passengers travelled by rail, up 6% year-on-year, and the Rodalies suburban network in Barcelona, where passengers made 116 million trips, up 2.4%.
Regional and medium-distance services saw a 4.1% increase to 474 million passengers, 18 million more than in 2018.
The demand for commercial Ave and long-distance services grew 4%, to 33.6 million passengers.
