Renfe Leaves without train to 900.000 travellers

Renfe, Spanish State-owned railway agency, estimates that an ongoing ‘restructuring’ plan being implemented upon its network is to result in the scrapping of 500 mid.range railway links. The chairman of the public company, Julio Gómez-Pomar, reminded that measures in place affect 15pc of 3,500 railway connections the company is operating to this day.

In any case, Renfe pulling out of these connections is to affect 5.7pc of all demand in mid.range raliway services, that is to say 900,000 passengers.

Cost-cutting measures

However, Renfe is confident that this overhaul of the called as Media Distancia network will yield savings to the tune fo 15 million in the short term, and of 50 million in the long run.

During a meeting organised by the Asociación de Periodistas de Información Económica (APIE), Spanish financial reporters’ association, the chairman of Renfe gave assurances that mobility rights of all passengers will be upheld. Mr. Gómez-Pomar reminded that scrapped connections are now to be serviced by long-range railway links, and the remaining ones are to be services by means of coaches.

‘We are undergoing a restructuring on the ground that fleet trains for a handful of passengers is inefficient and means squandering public funds’, judged the senior executive. ‘We believe that in order to transport 30 passengers, it is much more efficient doing it by coach that by train’, concluded.