The Ministry of Transport has removed the AVE line connecting Alicante to Madrid from its plan. Reducing the price of a high-speed ticket by up to 50% Something that will apply from September, for example, in Castilla-León and Aragón. The announced measures to make multi-trip Suburban-Media Distance subscriptions free (including Alicante-Murcia) and a 50% discount on Avant trains and some AVEs in Castilla y León and Aragón will cost 231m euros. The tip and 50% discount will amount to 201 million euros, to which will be added 1.9 million for the discount on Avant and 27.8 million for the costs of implementing this measure.
Average fare per trip Madrid with AVE about 60 Eurosbut some banknotes, especially among Madrid and Alicante, exceeding one hundred Euros on certain days and time periods. The official reason why the measure does not affect the state’s high-speed services with Madrid, which also stops in Villena, Albacete and Cuenca, is that the traffic between Madrid and Alicante is too touristy and profitable.
However, the rationale with its nuances. While tourists are in the majority during the summer months, about half of all trips between the province and the Spanish capital are made by tourists during the rest of the year. work or educational reasons at the universities of Madrid. To travel between Madrid and Alicante, you just have to try and buy a ticket on Friday or Sunday throughout the year to see how complicated it is.
moved to renfe 11.7 million travelers on trains High speed (AVE and Alvia) in circulation in the first six years of operation up to 2019 in the Madrid-Cuenca-Albacete-Villena-Alicante relationship. Traffic was paralyzed during the covid pandemic in 2020 and it wasn’t until June in 2021 that service started. started to return to normal. the journey between Madrid and Alicante, point-to-pointIt is the most requested, with over 75% of total passengers.
Before the epidemic, more than 2.1 million passengers used the high-speed trains connecting Madrid with Alicante each year. the journey between Madrid and Alicante, point-to-point, is the most demanded. A total of 1.7 million customers used these services between the two cities.
AVE service between Madrid and Alicante, point-to-point, on certain days 7,100 travelers. Thursday and Friday are the days of highest demand, emphasizing the combination of professional traffic and weekend fun. Last Easter was a record with 24 trains.
Discrimination
Nuria Montes, general secretary of Hosbec, I don’t think AVE is part of the rail services package. it will take tourists out of the province, but in general, it is true that this government-approved decree distills discrimination because we all suffer from inflation and it is not clear why a traveler from Aragon on the AVE could travel on the AVE. Cheaper than Alicante, Albacete or Cuenca. We all suffer from the price increase, it doesn’t change according to the regions,” he said.
Montes also underlines that “the decree should serve all sectors, but tourism is cornered once again, so we asked for funding for Imserso on Wednesday because it’s summertime.” It will be difficult and if any region on the peninsula works with tourists in winter, it is Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol”.
On the other hand, keep in mind that there is a complete lack of control over prices. electric power ended up delaying his arrival. AVE “low cost” high-speed corridor between Alicante and Madrid. Increase in electricity prices in recent months e.g. increased costs Ouigo is the first operator to compete with Renfe, which will triple electricity costs on the line between Madrid and Barcelona. The company, which plans to operate with two daily connections between Alicante and Madrid, will launch in the fall. He just announced that his trains would stop in Albacete.
The company had calculated the total consumption for this year. 3,400 GW/hr and now finds kW/hr increased from 60 to 300 Euros, with tips of up to 700 Euros. It is difficult to offer a ticket for 9 euros after the costs have increased by 50% due to the increase in electricity. renfe, For his part, he calculates that failure to control the electricity tariff has already resulted in a bill of more than one hundred million euros.
resources in the railway sector, renfe, what’s next without giving a date on its low costHowever, it won’t take him half a minute to start his trains as soon as his future rivals step in. However, the lack of control over energy prices made things complicated, as the rail sector was also deprived of the aid approved by the Government for road transport.
Ouigo will operate with Almston trains adapted to the Spanish network. Double-decker trains will have 509 seats, an onboard shuttle and cafeteria. SNCF also trains train drivers specializing in freight trains for these vehicles to be included in these vehicles. Mediterranean Corridor.
The ministry expects it to get an increase of 27,400 with its measure, which was approved on Monday. travelers In Cercanías and Media Distancia, it will host 144,000 people during this time, increasing to 170,600. Regarding Avant, 152,000 travelers will benefit. Likewise, the cost of support personnel to serve at the stations – estimated at 1,000 reinforcements – is 14.9m euros, plus 10m euros for the communication campaign and 3m euros for other expenses. .
The hypotheses used to assess the economic impact of the measures are that 50% of transit passengers will shift to the new train. Multi-trip ticket where 70% of users occasionally buy tickets will be carried over to the new multi-trip season ticket, and demand will increase by 30% compared to what it would have been without the discounts.
The decree, approved on Monday, also details that the direct helpline to railway companies affected by the increase in fuel prices will have a budget impact of 1.9m euros, direct assistance to carriers (trucks, buses, taxis, VTC, ambulances and vans). ) will amount to 450 million Euros.
Delay of the new AVE
On the other hand, Talgo denied the 116m-euro claim that Renfe wanted the delivery to be delayed. 15 high-speed trains and blamed the public company and other government-affiliated state companies for these delays.
The head of the train manufacturer, Carlos Palacio, wrote a letter to his colleague in Renfe, Isaías Táboas, to whom Europa Press has access, citing inconsistencies in the operator’s communications for this delay last month. . First, Palacio argues that Talgo’s professionalism has been questioned and his reputation “clearly damaged” and the effect this has had on him as a result. customers, investors and workers.
The manager argues that these delays are a direct result of the design changes Renfe made two years after the contract was signed, the shutdown due to covid, and the delays and restrictions placed on it to conduct tests. trains. In particular, the design changes necessitated the signing of a new contract in 2019 and ensured the delivery of the first train in January 2021. However, the epidemic Pandemic had a significant impact on these times.
“I don’t think it affects tourism but the decree distills discrimination because we all suffer from inflation and it’s not clear why an AVE passenger from Aragon could travel cheaper than Alicante”
In this sense, Talgo stated his reasons. “Force Majeure” He believes that after closing factories, reducing staff and limiting activity in successive incarcerations, a greater power must be recognized by the Government than the company believes. “This statement of force majeure has been accepted by governments and clients of other projects outside of Spain. To be honest, it is an act, in my view, that I think our Government should not be an international exception and should exhibit with even less pride,” Saray explained.
To this was added later availability to test trains originally set up. 40 hours a weekhowever, the reduction of Adif, the public manager of the rail network, to 15 hours a week, caused “irreparable damage” to the company, in Talgo’s view.
Other regulatory changes have further reduced the availability of the road to run tests due to prioritizing other issues such as maintenance work. “resource limitation“By “events” in Renfe and his workshops.
“However, as of July 2022, this is not a surprise, as all these changes and their consequences are periodically communicated to the United States. renfe Since the beginning of 2020, which took two years to respond to our arguments and did it all of a sudden, refusing to listen to them and giving no reason.”
With all this, against the claim renfeThe Talgo chairman believes the operator should recognize him “for being able to produce the world’s most versatile high-speed train in one of the toughest times.”