Sources from the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Isabel Diaz Ayuso They described this measure as “improvisation” because, according to them, it invades regional competences and, in addition, it is more expensive than some of their tariffs, also interregional.
The new pass, as Sánchez explained, will be approved at the next Council of Ministers and will be a flat monthly transport pass that will allow travel throughout the country for 60 euros, and for 30 euros in the case of young people under 26 years old.
The measure will come into force in the second half of January and is part of the extension of aid to public transport.
From Madrid, in addition to denouncing the “zero dialogue with them” and wondering who will pay what this subsidy costs, they warn that it is a higher price than that of the pass used to travel by bus and Cercanías to the provinces of Toledo, Guadalajara and Cuenca.
In the first phase, the payment will only include the Cercanías, Media Distancia and state-dependent buses.
The Executive’s objective is for the single ticket to be gradually extended to other services, like the Madrid metro or city buses, whose management depends on the autonomous communities and town halls. In this sense, Sánchez called on the autonomy and local entities to join the initiative.
However, the Department of Transport of the Community of Madrid has expressed its direct rejection of the proposal.
In statements to EL ESPAÑOL, sources from the regional department denounce that the central government “once again demonstrates its constant improvisation in essential areas such as public transport” and maintain that the so-called single ticket “far from improving the system, “invades regional powers and lacks technical and financial planning.”
The Community criticizes the Executive for having announced the measure without prior negotiation with the administrations which manage transport.
“Even the most basic step has not been taken: sitting down with the Regional Transport Consortium of Madrid or the Community of Madrid to analyze the viability of the proposal,” say these sources, who warn that the new subscription could even lead to an increase in prices in the region.
One of the main arguments of the Ayuso government is the comparison with the current youth rate in Madrid.
In the region, they recall, young people can travel throughout the Community and even join Castile-La Mancha for 20 euros per month thanks to the package agreed by the Regional Transport Consortium. Faced with this, the subscription announced by Sánchez sets the youth price at 30 euros per month, or 10 euros more.
It should be remembered that currently, the tariff zones approved by the Regional Transport Consortium of the Community of Madrid They reach the so-called E2 zone which covers the provinces of Toledo, Cuenca and Guadalajara. All are served either by a bus line or by the Cercanías.
Fare zones of the Madrid public transport system.
It is true that the Government’s subscription goes further and offers, for example, a young person from Guadalajara who goes to study in Madrid every day, the possibility of also traveling with his subscription to Soria or Valladolid on a regional train.
But, in any case, this use should be more sporadic and therefore more detrimental to the student’s pocket if he or she has to pay 30 euros instead of 20 euros month by month.
“Sánchez is selling as a flagship measure a subscription 50% more expensive than what our young people already benefit from,” underlines the ministry, insisting on the fact that Madrid “does not need the State to increase the price of transport”, but rather that invest in Cercanías, an infrastructure that is the responsibility of the State and this, as they remember, “fails daily.”
The Regional Executive also questions the technical viability of the project.
According to him, the government is talking about a single ticket “without explaining how the different regional and local systems will be integrated, what technological requirements will be required or who will assume the adaptation costs”. “The bear skin is sold before being hunted and the problem is transferred to the autonomous communities,” they add.
The announcement also affects Madrid City Hall, since the government’s project envisages the possible inclusion of municipal buses in the future single pass. However, Madrid City Hall did not respond to questions from this newspaper on its position on the measure or on a possible adhesion to the new system proposed by the Central Executive.
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