Free Renfe season tickets brought with them the usual mischief of those who wanted to take advantage of something they didn’t need. It was already expected last week by EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA, a newspaper of the Prensa Ibérica group to which this newspaper also belongs: some users reserved seats on the Media Distancia trains and did not arrive before the start. This way, in practice the convoys looked complete, but once the journey began, many seats left empty, this incorrectly assumed saturation of trains and a detriment to habitual passengers who could not find a seat.
The railroad company is trying to stop this habitual game. Changed the reservation policy. It has put two stops since Friday, September 16, as Europa Press announced last week and confirmed by this newspaper. The first is to block return travel reservations for users who do not participate in their contracted round-trip travel. Travelers will have a reasonable margin to purchase the return ticket. Second, Renfe will limit the number of reservations per day to four, two outbounds and two return, to avoid disadvantage for passengers who usually board these trains and arrive home in the middle of the day. To anticipate new numbers, the rail company warns that “several trips cannot be booked until the turn between the same departure and destination is complete.”
“Travels for two or more consecutive trains cannot be formalized, In the same sense, they explain from Renfe, “between two formalizations, when the departure time of the first and the departure time of the second is less than 2 times the travel time of the first officialization. To travel from Salamanca to Ávila, he chooses a 10 am ticket, this trip is a it takes nine minutes, they can’t make another trip between Salamanca and Ávila in the same direction until 12:18 pm, the company clarifies, you can take a train from Ávila to Salamanca from the moment you get off the train at the destination station.
According to Renfe sources, the company has been monitoring the progress of these transitions since September 1, when the initiative was launched. According to Europa Press, the company estimates that around 10-15% of Galician banknotes remain unused. Two weeks later, and when he became convinced of the abuses by some users, he put an end to those who tried to deceive the company. From Renfe they moved on to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA last week. They were aware of the picares and claimed to have “analyzed the measures to be taken”. so as not to harm the rest of the citizens”.Abuse of free titles harms the rest of the citizensrestricts their mobility”, they noted from Renfe before announcing their new restriction.
“Yes, we noticed,” says Iria Méndez, spokesperson for the Media Distancia Galicia platform. In addition to these limitations, it guarantees that there are multiple formalizations of up to 10 trips per day, and that these elements translate into “rigidity” for many users: “There will be people who will think more about it. And you will no doubt notice that there are fewer reserved seats.
This user says the attitude at Renfe should be “vigilant and proactive”. “They have now reacted late by implementing the measures‘, he thinks, because at the start of the free subscription initiative, they should have created a ‘sanction regime and framework of action’ that was missing and could ‘save us from using more than discounts these days’.
“One of Renfe’s Efforts to prevent misuse of fertilizers. Salamanca Train Association spokesperson Alejandro Rosende says any action with an additional checkpoint would be welcome so that everyone can take advantage of these recurring subscriptions. He points out that the change is “immediate” as it is a computer regulation, but that such cheats “within the next 15 days”. reflects that it remains to be seen if it continues with the limitations already in place.
Under normal circumstances, recurring passengers of Renfe’s Media Distancia, which the company aims to protect with this measure, purchased tickets for ten, 30 or 50 trips and formalized as necessary. If their plans changed and they couldn’t catch the convoy, they had to cancel or change their reservation in advance, or risk losing their money. Now that these flights are free, changing or canceling tickets loses its meaning and becomes more difficult: “Does not allow a reservation to be canceled correctly‘ says Iria Mendez.
With the implementation of the free Media Distancia subscription for passengers who want to buy 20 Euro deposit refundable if they have made at least 16 trips at the end of the promotion Since September 1, it has caused trains with usually empty seats to appear full up to ten days before departure.
Renfe, for now, is a increased control of passengers or create a penalty For those who have booked a trip and have not attended after the absence has been documented by a company employee.
“If someone doesn’t use rides, there shouldn’t be a penalty,” says Alejandro Rosende, who understands that penalties should be reviewed by the rail company for those who commit these practices too repetitively. “Renfe should set the minimum and take the precautions it takes into account to prevent other people who need to travel from using the train,” he adds.
A spokesperson for the Media Distancia Galicia platform positively values the “empowerment of the people we have on the platforms and monitoring access to trains”. “They can really control who gets on the train and who doesn’t,” he adds. “We love seeing their reaction and hope they will continue to watch us.”
On the contrary, Iria Méndez, Renfe does not have an operational website, “Because there are access problems, ticket problems, cancellation problems, tickets are not loaded correctly in the application, reservation processes are interrupted, you come to the platforms and cannot download the QR code to access”. “There’s a lot to be done, at least in Galicia, in terms of information systems,” he denounced.