Froet and Confebus ask for aid for the sector and denounce the “unfair competition and the grievance” that the Executive’s measures will cause
The free subscriptions for Renfe’s Cercanías and Media Distancia trains have caused the rejection of bus passenger companies, who fear the loss of passengers. The Confebus and Froet employers denounce comparative grievance and unfair competition, and demand that the aid be extended to the entire public transport system. In the Region of Murcia, more than 4,000 travelers travel daily by bus between Murcia, Cartagena, Lorca and Alicante, some of whom could switch to the train for free tickets.
The director of the Froet passenger department, Antonio Torres, points out that the free Renfe Cercanías will affect “very negatively” the bus sector on coincident routes, mainly on the Murcia-Lorca, Murcia-Alicante and Murcia- Cartagena. In the first case, the subscription will be free for users of Media Distancia services, and in the other two for those of Cercanías.
Torres describes the measure as “unfair competition and comparative tort” and fears that there will be a transfer of passengers from the bus to the train for the simple fact that the ticket is free. “Although each means of transport has its clientele, there is no doubt that there will be users who can save up to 200 euros a month,” he says, giving as an example the 10 euros that a round-trip bus ticket costs between Murcia and Lorca. On the other hand, he emphasizes that the road routes provide their own service between the intermediate towns along the route.
to college campuses
Froet’s representative considers that the aid to the train will be noticed mainly in mid-September, when the course begins in the three universities of the Region, since a considerable number of students are mobilized. In periods of high occupancy, some of these lines transport between 1,500 and 2,000 passengers a day, he points out.
Antonio Torres regrets that similar aid does not exist for the bus, and refers to the protest of the Spanish Confederation of Bus Transport (Confebus), which considers that there is double discrimination: to the territories that do not have a railway and to the companies that They provide the public transport service by bus. In a statement, he stresses that this measure, if not extended to the entire public transport system, together with the spectacular rise in fuel prices, could drown a sector that has not yet recovered from the impact of Covid. “If this measure is implemented, it would have disastrous consequences for road passenger transport companies, since demand will be displaced in all the corridors that coincide with the railway, which will be difficult to recover once the measure”, says Confebus, who highlights that in the last two years more than 280 companies have disappeared in Spain and those that survive, less than 3,000, accumulate a large debt. To this is added the consequences “of the extraordinary increase in fuel prices”, which is having a huge impact on the income statements of companies in the sector, indicates its Rafael Barbadillo, president of said Confederation. He has been in contact with the Ministry of Transport, with the parliamentary groups, representatives of the workers and regional officials to convey to them the concern of the sector.
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