iryo, Renfe, Euskotren and FGC sign to set up the Spanish Association of Passenger Railway Companies
The Spanish passenger rail sector represented by iryo - Spain’s first high speed private operator owned by Air Nostrum and Trenitalia-, Renfe - Spain’s state-owned rail company -, Euskotren - the leading rail operator in the Basque Country -, and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) - the rail company owned by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia -, has announced the setting up of the Spanish Association of Passenger Railway Companies as part of the new Spanish single market that has been liberalised since December 2019.
The Association, whose purpose is to represent the sector as one single voice, seeks to contribute to changes and regulatory improvements, support and endorse rail transport for its social and environmental values, and foster legislative changes and policies that support the modal transfer of other means of transport to the train.
The Association, which will ensure Spanish rail operators are heard nationally and internationally, has been officially set up with the signing of its articles of association which took place in Madrid today, 12 May 2022. iryo, Renfe, Euskotren and FGC took part in the ceremony at the Only You Hotel Atocha.
As agreed by Carlos Bertomeu, Chairman of iryo, Isaías Táboas, Renfe CEO, Javier Seoane, Euskotren General Manager, and Pere Carlos, FGC General Manager, Carlos Bertomeu will be the first Chair of the Association and Sonia Araujo, the CEO of Renfe Viajeros, has taken up its general management.
The spheres of action of the new Spanish Association of Passenger Railway Companies mainly include the intervention with any type of national and international public administrations and official authorities in the field of rail transport, and maintaining and fostering relations with them, along with other stakeholders of the transport, mobility and tourist sector. Furthermore, it will conduct studies of interest for its members and will report on proposed legislation affecting them.
The first actions on the Association’s roadmap include continuity and consolidation of the measures carried out to offset the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in the demand for or implementation of measures to curb and reduce the cost of energy, among others. Furthermore, as far as the highspeed service is concerned, the Association will also work on a firm proposal to adapt the current fees system to a new model to drive the common goal of reaching 50 million highspeed passengers a year.
This single voice of the sector has also been set up in order to improve the train’s competitive position as a more sustainable means of transport and which uses 100% renewable energy. The Association seeks to contribute to developing green taxation to boost the sustainable modal change, demand sectoral solutions for the current energy crisis with measures equivalent to those deployed for road transport, accelerate the approval of the regulation of the white or energy savings certificates, and develop measures to spur on the modal change required to achieve the European and national (PNIEC) emission reduction targets.
Furthermore, this all helps to improve transport regulations regarding the Railway Sector Act, and to finance Adif and Adif AV to maximise the use of the existing railway infrastructure and thus ensure the long-term sustainability of the system.
Carlos Bertomeu, Chairman of iryo and Chair of the Spanish Association of Passenger Railway Companies, stressed that “being represented is fundamental for the joint and unified defence of the common interest of passenger rail operators, and to drive and develop rail at the heart of sustainable mobility”.
Isaías Táboas, CEO of Renfe, explained that “the liberalisation of passenger rail transport has brought in new operators that, even though they compete on the market, they all share the common interest of improving how the sector works. Belonging to an Association that combines the endeavours of the members is interesting, so that its approaches have more weight than they would do so each individually”.
In turn, Javier Seoane, the Euskotren General Manager, stressed “Euskotren’s firm commitment to public transport as the backbone of mobility, along with its key role in the interoperability and coordination policies in its first 30 years as a publicly-owned company of the Basque Government”. He added that “Euskotren is today taking a further step in that commitment to enter into agreements with other operators of the sector as founding partners of the Spanish Association of Passenger Railway Companies”.
Finally, Pere Calvet, the FGC General Manager, explained that “the train is one of our most powerful and efficient tools to fight against climate change. This fight involves all of us and requires strong partnerships to address it by means of the commitment of companies, administrations and society. At Ferrocarrils, we are climate change activists and we want to lead all those initiatives that help to foster the use of the train and to contribute to the decarbonisation of the planet”.
About iryo
iryo is the leading Spanish private highspeed rail operator by journey frequency and fleet size and its main shareholders are Trenitalia and the partners of Air Nostrum. The company will begin operating in 2022 with the only fleet of new trains on the market: initially, 20 state-of-the-art units manufactured by Hitachi Rail in conjunction with Bombardier (now Alstom group) and in which it has invested €800 million. iryo will operate 30% of the highspeed journeys in Spain and aims to transport 8 million passengers between Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Cordoba, Valencia, Alicante and Zaragoza when it starts up its service. The company, which envisages creating around 2,600 direct and indirect jobs, was awarded Package B – the second with the largest number of journeys after the one awarded to Renfe – in the tendering process launched by ADIF in November 2019 to liberalise rail transport in Spain. iryo is headed by Carlos Bertomeu, Chairman, Simone Gorini, its CEO, and Victor Bañares, its General Manager.
Further information at www.iryo.eu.
About Renfe
Renfe is the leading freight and passenger rail operator in Spain. Each year, 500 million people travel on one of the 5,000 Renfe trains that operate in Spain each day and reach their destination with the punctuality, comfort and service that can only be offered by one of the world’s best transport companies and which has nearly 15,000 employees. Thanks to its track record over the last 81 years, Renfe is one of the leading rail companies in the world, with an important international outreach. Its commitment to digital and technological transformation will make the company a key global operator beyond the rail market in the coming years.
Further information at www.renfe.com.
About Euskotren
Euskotren, a publicly-owned company answering to the Basque Government’s Ministry of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport, has consolidated its position as the leading transport operator in the Basque Country during the nearly 40 years it has been operating. It will be celebrating that anniversary in May. Its public service based on quality, sustainability, efficiency and safety meets the travel needs of millions of people a year. The current management of five interterritorial rail lines, an underground line, the Larreineta funicular railways, two tramway services (Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz) and several bus lines in Bizkaia and Gasteiz endorse Euskotren’s track record. It is firmly committed to public transport as the backbone of mobility in the Basque Country which is making solid headway to the future, without forgetting all the small and major milestones that make Euskotren which it is today. Euskotren also runs the Basque Railway Museum in order to preserve our history to set robust strategies for the future.
Further information at www.euskotren.eus
About FGC
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya is a publicly-owned company that manages rail service infrastructures and operations, along with managing mountain stations. It is one of the main stakeholders of Catalonia’s public transport system with 300 km of urban and suburban railway lines (including four underground services in the city of Barcelona) and with 100 million journeys a year. FGC operations focus on quality and services, and its punctuality rate is 99%. It is a world leader in accessibility, with 100% of its trains and stations accessible, where it combines technology, investment and close cooperation with the associations involved. Its focus on the quality and excellence of the service entails active participation in innovation and research projects in order to always offer the best possible service.
Further information at www.fgc.cat