The First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, has explained that the president of Adif, Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña, has submitted his resignation, citing "similar reasons" to those put forward this Tuesday by Óscar Puente when he left the Ministry of Transport, just six days after the Urde accident (Toledo).
"We had a meeting this afternoon and he has presented his resignation to me," Cuerpo said this Wednesday in an interview on TVE, as reported by Europa Press, making clear that it is not a dismissal and describing the decision as "appropriate".
When asked whether more changes could take place in the coming weeks, the head of Economy emphasized that it is key to "continue taking steps to restore trust" in the "high-speed system" of the rail network.
In this sense, he highlighted the "important steps" approved these days "in operational matters of Adif's control center" by the Council of Ministers, as well as actions in the "technological scope", "of the protocols" and in "human resources", along with decisions "in matters of financing" to "ensure investment in maintenance".
"It has been approved by the ADIF Board that this increase in investment of up to 50% for the next five years, reaching almost 19,000 million, has been approved," the minister said.
Cuerpo also commented that his "first conversation" after the announcement by the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, about his appointment to lead Transport was with Puente, whom he met at the Ministry to "work through all the pending matters".
In addition, he said he will hold a meeting with the unions this Thursday in light of the strikes called in the railway sector, with the aim that, if they are ultimately carried out, "they be in the best possible conditions also in terms of provision of services for users".
This Tuesday, after his appearance before the Standing Committee of the Congress of Deputies to provide explanations about the railway accident, Puente announced his resignation as minister and his decision not to appear on the electoral lists of the Partido Socialista in the run-up to November 29.
His resignation arrived six days after the incident in which 69 people died and nine months later than the derailment of a Renfe AVE in Adamuz (Toledo), where 46 travelers died after the tail cars invaded the opposite track and collided with an Iryio that was traveling in the opposite direction.