Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has met the regional president of Madrid, Ángel Garrido, and has agreed to make numerous improvements in infrastructures for this territory - outstanding among them, a 6 billion euro investment for the renovation of the Spanish capital's suburban rail network, half of which will be spent on replacing the rolling stock. Spain's public works ministry has also announced it will nominate a coordinator for Madrid's suburban Cercanias, to manage the relationships with national rail companies ADIF and Renfe. In parallel, Sánchez has informed Garrido that Madrid's radial toll motorways will continue to be managed publicly until they can be privatized once again.
Sánchez's broken promises
Meanwhile, the central government has always maintained investment at a level very low in Catalan rail infrastructures. The Catalan government is continually complaining about the failure of Spain's central government to honour its promises in rail transport, and has even initiated legal action over this question. Catalonia's territorial minister, Damià Calvet, asserts that the state has only actually gone ahead with 13% of the investment spending it committed to when the administration of the Catalan suburban Rodalies trains - but not their operation or infrastructure - was handed to the Catalan authorities, 10 years ago. The Mediterranean Corridor has not been implemented, despite being considered a priority project at European level. And for some of the promised construction works, which should already be finished, are not even making progress. The major La Sagrera station in Barcelona is getting further and further behind schedule and the high-speed train connection with the city's El Prat airport follows the same pattern. Also pending are the works to make rail lines subterranean in some urban sections, especially in Montcada, where many fatal accidents have taken place.