Impact of the liberalization of railway passenger transport in Spain

The center and Mafex, the Spanish railway association,  organized a conference on “The impact of the liberalization of passenger transport in the railway industry” due to the opening of the market to competition at the end of next year.

The event was presented by the Chairman  Mr. Julio Gómez-Pomar and the president of MAFEX-Spanish Railway Association Mr. Víctor Ruiz. Both of them, pointed out that liberalization process would bring new opportunities for growth and wealth to the Spanish economy. Likewise, the event counted with the presence of  Mr. Pedro Saura, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing who inagurated the conference. He argued that “there is no manual for liberalization of of passenger transport” and therefore, he expressed the importance of discussing the topic in events like this one.  Indeed, he pointed out that liberalization was a “great reform of the State” as it would help achieve three major objectives: increase productivity, reduce environmental impact and facilitate social cohesion.

The conference also counted with the president of Adif, Mrs. Isabel Pardo, who highlighted the importance of transparent and efficient management to make this process real. She also detailed how Adif would respond to this great challenge. Currently, they are working on finding solutions to the traffic growth forecasts that include three key elements: the maintenance of workshops, section roads for compositions and bottlenecks.

In addition, two round tables were organized with experts on the field.  The first round table,”Impact of Liberalization on railway operators”, featured Mr. Geir Isaksen, CEO & President VY (Norwegian Satte Railways) and Mr. Manel Villalante, General Director of Development and Strategy of Renfe. Regarding the second one, dedicated to the “Impact on the rail liberalization industry in the EU”, it  counted with the opinion and deep understanding of  Mrs. María Concepción Ortega, Vice President of MAFEX- Spanish Railway Association;  the Director Spekter (Employers’ Association) Norway, Mr. Sverre Høven; and the RailForum Rail Association Board member, Mr.Jan Koers.