The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has claimed this Tuesday that infrastructures should be kept out of the "partisan battle" and has asked the autonomous communities governed by the PP to adopt the mobility policies promoted by the coalition government.
"I am waiting for administrations from the Popular Party to join, which, I am sure, think that these are positive measures that benefit their citizens, but which I believe prioritize the partisan fight over the general interest," he pointed out in a debate organized by "Club Siglo XXI," referring to initiatives such as the single pass.
The head of Transport has emphasized that the central government has implemented reductions in ticket prices, the single pass, and the "Young Summer" program, with an expenditure close to 2 billion euros per year.
Puente has stressed that infrastructure projects must have the support of all political forces, as they have very long life cycles that far exceed the duration of legislatures and different governments.
For this reason, he has expressed his belief that the design of the high-speed network in Spain is already defined, despite the differences in the degree of progress of some corridors, with very developed connections, such as that of Cantabria, and others still lagging, such as that of Extremadura.
The minister has estimated the needs to maintain the road network over the next four or five years at 1.8 billion euros per year, and has calculated the amount planned for investments in ports and airports at 20 billion euros.
"First-class" in high speed and new trains
The person responsible for Spanish infrastructures has assured that national high speed is "reliable," relying on punctuality data that surpasses that of the German system and is at levels similar to those of France or Italy.
According to him, Spain is in "first-class" in railway matters, although he has admitted that a good part of the rolling stock is "very old" and that the new ones, including the Talgo trains, are generating "many problems."
In this context, he has valued the contract signed with Siemens for the manufacture of 30 "Velaro Novo" trains for 1.218 billion euros, which also includes the possibility of expanding the order by 10 additional units.