"In two or three years, gradually": this is how improvements in commuter trains will be noticeable, according to Puente

BarcelonaThe Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has come to Barcelona to deliver a message of calm. "There is money and there are many projects underway," he said at a meeting with business leaders at the Círculo de Economía (Economic Circle), before outlining the main initiatives and investments his ministry has planned for Catalonia; some as complicated and historic as the transfer of the commuter rail network, the expansion of the airport, and the improvement of access to the port.

Puente began his speech in Catalan, defending "institutional normality and recognition of the country's plurality," a gesture that the members of the Círculo de Economía (Economic Circle) acknowledged with a standing ovation. The minister reviewed everything Pedro Sánchez's government has done to improve Catalan infrastructure and announced that the Spanish government will submit the approval of the measures to the Council of Ministers. the new company Cercanías de Cataluña before the end of July.

The goal is for the new company, which will be part of the Renfe group, to be established before the end of the year and begin operating in 2026. The company will have a board of directors controlled by the Generalitat (Catalan government), but Renfe will remain the majority shareholder. Puente admitted that governance in the Cercanías network "could improve," explaining that the new operator will allow for more close day-to-day management. He recalled that changes have also been made to Renfe's top management.

For the minister, there are three other factors that must be corrected to see an improvement in the commuter train system: the obsolescence of the infrastructure, the obsolescence of the trains, and the lack of capacity. "Since we came to power, we have invested €2 billion to update everything," but "we don't perform miracles," said Puente. The minister also noted that new trains have already been purchased and are currently being tested and should begin arriving next year. "Will the problems suddenly disappear? No," the minister added, explaining that new rolling stock "also causes many problems at first." Therefore, the ministry maintains that the changes will be "very gradual" and will begin to be noticed "in two or three years," when the construction work is completed and the new trains are running. "Without a well-connected Catalonia, the whole of Spain could not prosper," the minister said.

The airport expansion, a celebrated agreement

Puente has not only spoken about the railway network, but has also been very clear about the recent agreement to expand El Prat airport. "The lemon was already at its limit; the airport has been squeezed to the limit," he said. Puente asserts that while the political and social debate has raged, airport officials have done "everything that could be done" to optimize the infrastructure. "If we want to improve and grow, an extension of the runway is necessary; that's why I welcome the agreement and the unblocking of the roadmap," he said.

The minister also sought to calm the sentiment of those most opposed to the airport, and assured that any action will be carried out in compliance with environmental standards and with "absolute respect" for the environment, and with "the compensation that the regulations require."

The Mediterranean Corridor, a reality two years away

Regarding roads, Puente explained that more than half of the budget allocated goes to maintenance and upkeep. Regarding Spain now being one of the last countries in the European Union without pay-per-use tolls on highways, the Transport Minister justified this by saying that the government wanted to address an internal imbalance. Now, he continued, before implementing another type of pay-per-use system, the decision has been made to move forward with projects such as the Corridor "to remove trucks from the roads."

Regarding this project, the Mediterranean Corridor, Puente explained that the bureaucratic procedures have already begun to fully complete this project and that there are "approximately two years" remaining before "high-speed rail between Almería, Valencia, Catalonia, and France becomes a reality." "The Corridor is an irreversible project, regardless of the party in government, because it is already part of the European military corridors and, therefore, also has funds allocated for security," the minister told the business leaders attending the Economic Circle.

Budget Execution

The Transport Minister also addressed criticism of the poor budget execution in Catalonia. Puente stated that last year, 60% of the planned budget was executed and that this year the figure is expected to exceed that of the previous year. Even so, he asked citizens and business owners not to consider the percentage, but rather the absolute figures: "We invest the most in Catalonia, followed by Andalusia." However, although this has increased in recent years, according to the latest available data, in the period 2015-2023, the State executed approximately 6.4 billion euros in Catalonia, while in Madrid, the investment executed exceeded 13 billion euros during the same period.