The candidate of the Frente Amplio and former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has raised the need for a State pact that integrates the largest possible number of political forces, setting aside their differences, with the aim of finding answers after the "terrible" railway accident last Wednesday in Urda (Toledo).
Colau expressed herself in these terms this Monday, in statements to the media, after holding a meeting in Barcelona with representatives of the main railway unions (CC.OO., UGT, CGT, SF and SCF).
The leader has underlined that the train constitutes an essential public service for the daily life of the population and that, consequently, it must be "safe, sustainable and accessible".
A key service for mobility
With the aim of regaining users' confidence in a crucial service for the country's mobility, she has insisted that the time has come for all political organizations to put themselves at the service of the citizenry: "We want citizens to trust trains and be proud of the trains of this country, and not be afraid of them".
In this line, she has called for an agreement between the different forces, "the maximum possible ones", through a State Pact that, as she has argued, should be sealed immediately after the November 29 elections.
Reunify Renfe and Adif and stop outsourcing
From the Comuns, it is proposed to carry out a comprehensive audit of the railway system to know the real state of the entire infrastructure, as well as to recover public leadership of the sector through the reunification of Renfe and Adif: "It makes no sense at all for an essential service like trains to have two operators that may have different protocols, for example, for critical situations".
Likewise, they demand to reverse the outsourcing of "basic matters", such as maintenance tasks, in addition to increasing staffing in proportion to the increase in trains and the use of the infrastructures, guaranteeing that personnel receive ongoing training.
More investment in railways versus airports
Colau has also called for strengthening the financing allocated to railways and, in this context, has criticized the PSOE proposal to allocate 13 billion to the expansion of airports.
"Right now what we need is not to expand airports, we do not need more tourists in our country, all the cities are showing signs that we are at a level of saturation of mass tourism," Colau has stated, who has urged redirecting those resources to improving the railway network.
She has added that the State Pact cannot be limited to high speed, since commuter services present "unacceptable failures, constant delays, especially in Catalunya".
He demands responsibilities and Puente's resignation
Colau has reiterated that the Comuns are not talking about culpabilities, an issue that must be clarified by an independent judicial investigation, but has stressed that, after such a serious accident on the same line as that of Adamuz, about which the Government assured that it could not be repeated, it is "absolutely essential that political responsibilities be assumed".
She has indicated that the highest political responsible party is the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, and that, "out of humanity and empathy" with the whole citizenry and to begin restoring confidence in the railway system, he should tender his resignation.