Commuter trips grew by 24% in the month of September compared to the same month last year. Transfers on medium-distance trains, meanwhile, increased by 40% in the same period of time. These are the first conclusions of the Ministry of Transport during the first month in force of free subscriptions for recurring users, something that the Government values positively, and that, according to what they point out, could be changing mobility.
The bonus for train travel has not only managed to reduce inflation. The Executive also appreciates a substantial change in the way in which the Spanish move in their day to day. A considerable number of citizens have put aside the car and have opted for the train to get around since these aids came into force, from September 1.
The data has been revealed by the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, during an informative breakfast held this Monday in Madrid. The head of the department has also offered the data that up to now 1.5 million citizens have requested free subscriptions.
The head of the Ministry of Transport has detailed that thanks to these changes in mobility the environment has been 118 million liters of gasoline and up to 360,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere, if all these trips are they would have done by car.
Regarding the negotiation about Rodalies, Minister Sánchez has been in favor of transferring the financial management of the trains to the Generalitat, as the PSC defended a few days ago, but not the total transfer of the competition. In other words, the central government defends that the Government and Renfe sign the contract to make this transfer of economic and financial resources effective. For the transfer of certain sections of the state network, the Executive demands a feasibility study to negotiate within the framework of the Economic and Financial Affairs Commission, dependent on the Ministry of Territorial Policy. Transportes ensures that its approach is fully consistent with that of the PSC.
Sánchez has taken heart from the anti-crisis measures and has defended that the Government has launched in these months the "greatest mobilization of public resources in history". Measures, he has said, that are working and that have managed to lower the CPI. The forecast of the Executive, he has added, is that prices can continue to moderate in the coming months. "Without having applied these measures, inflation would have easily climbed to 15%," he detailed.
On various matters of her ministry in anticipation, such as highway tolls, Raquel Sánchez explained that the department has begun the study of various alternatives, such as the vignette or payment for use. To this end, a study has been commissioned through Ineco. But the Government has no intention of applying this model during this legislature. "It does not seem that in the short term it is the best moment to introduce the system", the minister has defended, emphasizing, yes, that the financing of the highways has to disappear from the general budgets of the state in the future.
Regarding the expansion of El Prat, Raquel Sánchez stressed that it is "a good project" for Catalonia and that "it would be convenient for us to have an intercontinental hub for connections with Asia". She has alluded to the crisis in the Government (we must remember that it was Junts who prevented the agreement, they point out from Transport) and added that "when there is that consensus we will be the first to propose it". The window of opportunity will be the airport planning plan for 2026, they point out from the Ministry.
