The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, warned this Tuesday that an internal Adif document, known to the Government, anticipates a 94% increase in the risk of accidents in which the administrator of the railway infrastructure would have responsibility.
At an information breakfast organized by Europa Press, Feijóo indicated that the Executive is aware, thanks to that report, that in the coming years various indicators of the railway system will deteriorate.
According to the figures he presented, the report, with a horizon of 2030, envisages a drop of nearly 30% in the reliability of the facilities, a worsening of 34% in the punctuality of the trains, a decline of 4% in the degree of compliance with preventive maintenance plans, and a rebound of 94% in the risk of accidents attributable to Adif.
He added that this document has also been sent to the railway operators, who have already filed objections.
"We have to proceed to a total reset of the railway infrastructures and, therefore, of the safety systems and their protocols. We have to know why maintenance has not kept pace with the increase in the use of the tracks. We have to know why hundreds of deaths and 170 breakdowns occurred on the Madrid-Seville line, some very serious, and everything was ignored," Feijóo stressed.
"Are they really going to repeat to us that we are close to zero risk? What are Spaniards supposed to do if two days ago they promised a Madrid-Barcelona AVE at 350 kilometers and now they say it may have to be closed?... All my solidarity with the citizens who get on a train in fear and all the support for the workers in charge of the railway system. They do not deserve the cowardly singling out to which they are being subjected and I guarantee them that they will be respected again," added the PP leader.
Feijóo maintained that, in order to address the problems in the Public Administration, "one has to listen to public employees" and that to fulfill that purpose "it is enough to put the best in the command posts".
"A strong State needs public servants selected for their management, for their technical knowledge. It is easy to understand. If the measure of your demand is to put a doorman from a strip club in Renfe, then do not be surprised that things do not work. This has to be changed. The managers of public companies and departments have to be chosen for ability, not for political affinity," he emphasized.
IMMEDIATE AUDIT OF THE RAIL NETWORK
During the event, Feijóo detailed that, if he reaches Moncloa, one of his first decisions will be to commission a quick audit of the railway safety systems, whose results he wants to know "in weeks," in addition to proceeding with an immediate reorganization of Adif.
That review would cover the reports from the train drivers, the speed reduction points scattered throughout the network, and the safety systems, with special focus on the railway corridor where the deaths have occurred.
He also proposed analyzing the deployment of the ERTMS system and questioned that corridors without this protection mechanism still exist.
Based on the conclusions of said audit, Feijóo advanced a "shock plan" to act from the budgetary and economic point of view, through the "declaration of an emergency" and the approval in the Council of Ministers of the necessary expenditure.
"If I have to stop a line, I will stop it. If I have to lower the speed on certain sections, I will do it," he stated, while also proposing to review the situation of the corridors of Catalonia, Andalusia and Levante.
PRIORITY TO MAINTENANCE OVER NEW WORKS
The PP leader insisted that the preservation and maintenance of railway and road infrastructure will take priority over the start of new projects. "If I cannot start a new project, I will not start it," he warned, criticizing the current state of Spanish motorways and assuring that he had never observed a similar situation.
He recalled that, when he assumed the Presidency of the Xunta de Galicia in 2009, one of his first measures was to promote road conservation and maintenance contracts with a term of five years, given the budgetary restrictions he anticipated.
The PP president added that the audit will include a "separate piece" focused on the railway network, with special attention to accidents and safety failures.
In his intervention, he denounced that 115 people have died in just nine months on the same railway line; that derailments on Spanish tracks have increased by 212% since 2018; that accident precursors have soared by more than 90% on AVE and 30% on the conventional network, and that AVE accounts for more than 70% of high-speed deaths "in the world". "And we need to know why," he argued.
THE PROFILE OF THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORTS HE HAS IN MIND
The president of the PP and candidate for President of the Government has pointed out that he already has defined the profile of the person who could take over the Transport portfolio if he reaches the Moncloa.
"I have in mind the profile of a good Minister of Fomento, without a doubt," he indicated, pointing out that he has been working for years with a team specialized in infrastructure.
Asked whether he has already decided who would occupy that position, he has avoided revealing names and has recalled that his ability to make that appointment will depend on the election results.
In this line, the leader of the opposition has defended that it is essential to have a minister who knows the department from day one. "We need a Minister of Fomento who arrives learned," he pointed out, before reiterating that it must be someone "who knows what he is talking about".