The government of Spain has decided to introduce a hundred percent discount for medium-distance train routes. So all the Spanish commuters can now celebrate free train travel.
The benefits of this new measure that the government of Spain has announced can be enjoyed by the regular passengers from 1st September 2022 onwards.
This scheme will cover the following trains: Madrid’s Cercanías trains, Rodalies trains in Catalonia, and conventional “Media Distancia” (medium-distance trains) provided by Renfe. So the travel cards of the passengers boarding these trains will be free of cost.
This measure will be in effect till 31st December 2022. Here are some details of these free train journeys in Spain.
Free Train Travel In Spain
During this free train ticket period in Spain, there will be about 75 million journeys made between the mentioned stations and trains, according to MITMA (Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda).
Under the leadership of Raquel Sanchez, the Ministry also said that this figure might get higher all thanks to the free transport. He’s expecting many people to switch to public transport due to the unprecedented step that the Spanish government has taken – which will last till 31st December 2022.
Cercanías, Rodalies, And Media Distancia Will Be Free Of Charge
These free tickets and services that will benefit a large section of Spanish society can be measured in two main categories.
- The free train tickets can be availed on Rodalies and Cercanias commuter trains for all and any multi-journey tickets in Catalonia and Madrid respectively. This will exclude the standard return journeys of these passengers. The same laws and process also apply to the Renfe Media Distancia trains – for the multi-journey tickets.
- A discount of 50 percent will be given to Avant regional services. On the same note, a discount of 30 percent will be rewarded for the transport depending on autonomous regions. According to the statements made by politicians, this whole scheme by the government is mainly focused on improving the daily traveling of citizens to study or work.
Difficult Economic Context Favours The Return To Public Transport
How will this whole scenario work out practically, though? According to the representatives of Spain’s Ministry of Transport, there has been some progress in that area. The details that will eventually make it easier to figure out how to make season tickets available to frequent passengers are being developed currently.
Not only that, say the representatives, but the tools and systems that are needed to carry out the entire process in a convenient, agile and fast way for the passengers have been activated.
The government of Spain has highlighted the high inflation in the context of the current economic state of the country. In June 2022, the CPI rate reached a baffling 10.2%. Given the rise in the prices of energy and fuel, the government is trying to boost public transport among its people.
Conclusion
Switching to public transport can solve a lot of other pressing issues as well.
According to the experts’ calculations, and as reported by the Executive, for every journey from private vehicles to public transport, between 73% and 80% of CO2 emissions are saved, on average, if the journey is made by metro or train, “without forgetting other improvements in terms of pollution, congestion or greater road safety”.
If we are to believe the experts, for every journey that has been converted from private to public transport, CO2 commission of between 73%-80% is getting saved.
And this is apart from the other benefits like decrease in pollution and better road safety.
