Lack of Spanish investment in the Mediterranean Corridor linked to TP Ferro’s failure, says Catalan minister

The Catalan Minister for Planning and Sustainability, Josep Rull, attributed the failure of TP Ferro, the concessionaire for the new high-speed (HS) railway between Spain and France, to lack of investment from the Spanish Ministry for Public Works in the Mediterranean Corridor. The company had set a goal: the circulation of 19,000 trains per year. However, in 2015 only 800 trains circulated ‘as the result of the delay in the planned investments’, the Catalan Minister said. Rull also recalled that in 2012 the Spanish Government announced that in 2015 there would be an international-gauge railway between Valencia and France.

Rull reiterated that the Mediterranean Corridor is ‘a priority’ for Catalonia and regretted that the Spanish government has cancelled a contract for a third stretch between Tarragona’s harbour and Castellbisbal; a measure announced this week through publication the Official Journal of the Spanish State (BOE).

Besides, this the Catalan Minister also stressed that the Spanish public train operator Renfe’s freight division has transported 14% less goods this year than in 2015 ‘despite exports and economic activity growing everywhere, especially in the Mediterranean Corridor’.

Rull stated that this is ‘bad news’ that ‘proves, once again’ the ‘lack of interest’ from the Spanish Government in a piece of infrastructure ‘considered a priority’ for the EU and of ‘vital’ importance for Catalonia and ‘ the entire Mediterranean axis.’

The EU, not ‘effective in enhancing rail freight transport’
Last May, Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, called for the Spanish Government to promote the Mediterranean Railway Corridor, following the publication of a report by the European Court of Auditors. The document stated that the EU ‘had not been effective in enhancing rail freight transport’ and emphasised that both the targets for number of freight trains and that for tonnage of goods transported through the cross‑border section between Spain and France were ‘far from being achieved’. According to the publication, only 3% of total inland freight traffic between Catalonia and France, which amounts to around 90 million tonnes per year, is transported over the Pyrenees by rail.

In the same vein, European Commission Spokesperson for Transport Jakub Adamowicz asked for ‘cooperation between all levels of administration’ to ‘implement’ the Corridor, as it is a ‘very important’ piece of infrastructure.