Ada Colau, candidate of Frente Amplio for the general elections of 29N, has called on the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, to clarify this Tuesday in Congress exactly what plans he has for the high-speed line between Madrid and Barcelona, and has reproached him for opening debates that, in her opinion, only generate more unease among users.
In addition, she has insisted on her demand that Puente submit his resignation to assume political responsibility for the accidents in Urda and Adamuz. She has underlined that this resignation would not imply pointing to direct culprits, and has admitted that the minister’s continuity ultimately depends on the decision of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.
"Obviously we cannot impose anything, that depends on the President of the Government and the PSOE, which is the majority force (...) It is not a matter now of pointing fingers at culprits, but indeed when there have been not one, but two very serious accidents in less than a year on the same high-speed stretch, if we believe that it is good and positive to begin to rebuild that confidence (...) we believe that it is positive for political responsibilities to also be assumed, which has nothing to do with culpability, but rather with political responsibilities," she stated in an interview on Onda Cero, reported by Europa Press.
Colau has explained that, despite the Urda accident, she continues to use the train as a means of transport and has defended that it is "healthy in a democracy" to send a message of "empathy and humanity" by assuming political responsibilities in the figure of the minister after a tragedy of this magnitude.
Criticism of the debate over the closure of the Madrid-Barcelona AVE
The candidate has censured Puente for putting on the table the possibility of temporarily suspending traffic on the high-speed line between Madrid and Barcelona during the remodeling works, work that had already been planned since last year.
She has asked the minister that during his intervention in Congress he detail why he launched this option in the midst of a context of "confusion and pain" caused by the Urda accident, instead of prioritizing messages of "calm and confidence".
In his view, Puente has contributed to increasing the sense of insecurity in a "not very prudent" way, since if there "really were some technical reason to immediately interrupt a line" there would not be a public debate, but rather "it would be done, period." "Please, let it be done with technical rigor," Colau has demanded, reproaching him again for raising this issue in the midst of social "shock" after what happened in Urda.
The leader of Frente Amplio has added that it is essential to ensure the mobility of Andalusia, whose AVE connection remains cut off, and has urged the Government to speed up an alternative transport plan that prevents this community from "remaining isolated from the rest of the country".
Offer of a State rail pact
In parallel, Colau has reiterated her proposal to reach a State Pact on railway matters that takes train management out of the "partisan struggle" and allows a future model to be agreed upon, with stable solutions and sufficient investment in maintenance.
Her approach involves promoting a "large public operator" that integrates Renfe and Adif with the aim of "cohesing, having fewer protocols and to provide maximum efficiency" to a railway system that she considers a key infrastructure for the country.
She has also defended that it is necessary to "reverse some outsourcing" and "strengthen public leadership" in this area, since, as she has pointed out, leaving maintenance in a long chain of subcontractors "clearly would seem that it is not producing good results", as representatives of train drivers and workers in the sector have conveyed to her.