Raquel Sánchez, Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, announced that the Ministry is already prepared and will launch a new call next month. € 500 million from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) for its implementation Low Emission Zones (ZBE) and the digital and sustainable transformation of urban transport.
This call is added to the previous call of 1,000 million euros for local companies whose funds have already been paid and which in the minister’s view could be considered successful. The Spanish high-speed network will grow by around 350 km in less than a month with three very important milestones: the new link between Atocha and Chamartín, the high-speed to Extremadura, the new line between Plasencia and Badajoz, and the high-speed train. – Speed to Burgos.
In his speech at the XIII Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility Sector Meeting, the minister emphasized that the Spanish high-speed network will grow by around 350 km in less than a month and will mark three very important milestones: the new link between Atocha and Chamartín, the new line between Plasencia and Badajoz and Extremadura. either high speed and high speed to Burgos.
As he commented, New infrastructure policy focused on environmental sustainability, because it’s a “survival issue”. This, as stated, can only be achieved by taking action on transport, which is responsible for 27.5% of greenhouse gas emissions and is almost five percentage points higher than the European average.
The person responsible for Mitma also confirmed the following from different media outlets: around 93% of emissions come from roads and a third of these gases are produced in our cities; air and maritime transport together do not reach 7%, but the first of these produces the most emissions per passenger and per ton transported.
All this despite its very limited share of rail transport, up to the point where, as you remember, its weight in the emissions cluster is residual, as opposed to what the more environmentally friendly rail represents. passengers and even more in the transport industry. This modal distribution is exactly what Mitma aims to change.
Future Mobility Law
Raquel Sánchez, on the other hand, responding to urban and rural mobility that requires a resizing of transport services to connect these regions with basic services and to stop their migration.
The ultimate goal, as he emphasizes, is to achieve universal, inclusive, accessible mobility and growth for all, and to do this by guaranteeing decent working conditions for transport and logistics professionals, in which historically marginalized women must ultimately play the corresponding role. he added.
The Minister pointed out that a National Strategy has been implemented to face these challenges. It will result in the Mobility Act, a regulation that will “guarantee everyone’s right to mobility”.It does not matter whether we are a woman or a man, live in a city or a small town, have a high or low income, have a physical disability, or have a private vehicle.
It is a law that will promote decarbonisation, increase the efficiency of the system, promote intermodality and the transition to more sustainable modes of transport, and set criteria for meticulous planning of investments to achieve the greatest social return. same.
To achieve these goals, the head of department noted that the PRTR funds, which the Ministry of Transport manages of 16,000 million euros – almost a quarter of the Plan – to decarbonize transport and construction, promote digitalization and innovation, are vital. and promoting social inclusion through new mobility and housing policies.
13,000 million for sustainable mobility
In this sense, 13.000 million allocated to sustainable mobility allows the investments of the Ministry and Mitma Group companies to increase by 30% in the coming years. The railway is the star of these investments exceeding 6.600 million.It will operate on more than 800 kilometers of Cercanías lines, more than 1,500 kilometers of Mediterranean and Atlantic corridors, and about 1,000 kilometers of trans-European networks not included in the corridors.
The Minister also drew attention to investments in highways, which have close to 1,000 million items in PRTR funds, which focus on promoting access to ports as well as humanizing crossings, safety adaptation of around 130 tunnels and acoustic protection. and BUS-HOV lanes.
On the other hand, close to 1,000 million resources will be allocated to intermodality and logistics, in particular to improving rail and road access and safety to ports, terminals, and 800 million will support the digitization of interoperability programs for rail freight transport and modernization. of rolling stock.
And, to lift one of the biggest challenges ahead, freight transport, was released last Tuesday the final version of the Mercancías 30 initiative, whose goal includes investments of more than 8,000 million euros. Between 4% and 10% to get closer to Europe and accelerate emissions reduction.
Finally, the minister pointed out that if the forecasts come true, the new mobility will have a multiplier effect on the economy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributing to the increase in GDP by over 30,000 million euros. And in this task, as he himself stated, the cooperation of the private sector is essential.
…..
Environment department contact address:[email protected]