The Minister of Public Works (Fomento), Ana Pastor, has announced that 176 railway stations across the country will be closed down owing to a lack of passenger traffic. Buses will be used as a substitute.

The Minister, who aims to overhaul rail traffic by the end of the year, has refused to consider maintaining these stations. She says that at these stations, ‘practically nobody’ boards or alights from the trains that stop there. The Spanish national railway network, RENFE, is publicly owned.

“Everybody will have their mobility guaranteed, but we can’t maintain stations where three, two or no passengers use them each day,” she explained.

As for the airports that are running at a loss, she believes that within three years the losses will be insignificant as it is planned that these airports will have ‘window timetables;’ i.e., they will only be operative during peak periods. The public entity, AENA, which runs Spain’s airports, will save around 100m euros per year with this measure, she states.

Editorial note: At the beginning of the 60’s in Britain, which had the most extensive railway network in Europe relative to its size, began a drastic closure of stations and railway lines. Now, 50 years later, the authorities are lamenting this short-sighted saving measure that has denied the country of a mass-transport system.

(News: Spain)