Passengers at a stop on the Cabezo de Torres-Pueblo Nuevo line (Murcia), yesterday at noon. /
The subsidy will go to the concessionaire companies to offset the impact of inflation and the increase in costs due to the crisis
Yesterday, the Governing Council approved the direct granting of aid amounting to 1,770,114 euros for all regular public transport concessionaires in the Autonomous Community, with the aim of offsetting the impact of inflation and extraordinary costs in provision of this essential service.
This subsidy is of an extraordinary nature due to the public and social interest of the transport service, and is part of the measures to minimize the economic impact of the economic crisis resulting from the invasion of Ukraine in the region’s transport sector.
Through this aid, the Community compensates the economic losses suffered by the line operators from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, ensuring the provision of these intercity transport services while allowing the rates of the users.
Sources from the regional government explained that this is a new measure “to guarantee the provision of public services by minimizing the economic impact of the crisis on transport companies.” Among these support measures for the transport sector, the elimination of regional transport rates included in the regional plan for economic reactivation also stands out, which this week has been extended until the end of the year.
Likewise, the Community paid 10 million euros last year to passenger transport companies to alleviate the losses caused by the collapse of passengers due to mobility restrictions caused by the pandemic.
On the other hand, since April, transport companies in the Region can apply for European aid for the transformation of freight and passenger vehicles aimed at the decarbonisation of professional transport proposed by the European Union through the ‘Next Generation’ funds. “The Region is one of the first to exhaust the credit of the subsidies destined for the withdrawal of polluting professional vehicles”, indicate the same sources. The Community has already sent the payment order to 88 companies, worth more than 4.1 million, to withdraw 272 vehicles from circulation.
The Ministry believes that the free train would have legal consequences
Regarding the free subscriptions for the Cercanías and Media Distancia trains that Renfe will apply, the Ministry of Development recalls that “there is no Cercanías service for Lorca and Águilas, and the alternative buses practically do not carry passengers, therefore there will be no benefit virtually no one. It adds that it could be “unfair competition, traffic theft, from regional concessions, both on the Murcia-Lorca line and on the Murcia-Cartagena line, which could have legal consequences by undermining the income of the concessionaire companies, Orbitalia and Interbus. , for an intervention in the market.
He considers, on the other hand, that the choice of transport mode is not only an economic issue, it also influences the travel time and the quality of the service. “Even if they make it free, the Cercanías service, today, cannot compete in quality with the bus service.” He points out that regional concessions are subsidized because ticket revenues do not cover operating costs. “Passenger transfers to other means of transport go against regional coffers,” he said.
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