Oscar Puente It always aims to be at the center of the news and now it is making headlines after dropping that with the arrival of the year 2025, the free Cercanías and Media Distancia subscriptions that hundreds of people enjoy today thousands of Spaniards will come to an end. The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility He emphasized in an interview that one of the most popular measures taken by the government against the crisis could end and that new actions would be taken in this regard.
He Government of Pedro Sanchez It is a news fact these days, for a change, because of a negative act that has an impact on the pockets of the Spanish people. After several months without VAT in products in the daily basket, the Executive decided this week to put an end to a measure that will affect hundreds of thousands of Spaniards. Thus, on October 1, the 0% tax assistance on basic food products ended and the rate will increase by 2% until December 31. This has caused the prices of bread, eggs, vegetables or fruit to rise in recent days, and even more, if possible, those of olive oilwhich continues its annual rise.
Another help that can put an end to Government From 2025, travel for free Surroundings and the trains Medium distance. It was formerly one of the measures anti-crisis the most popular approved for the purpose of mitigating the effects of inflation and protect the most vulnerable groups. After extending it to 2024, everything indicates that in 2025, hundreds of thousands of Spaniards who use the free Cercanías and Media Distancia subscription daily will see this aid end.
Renfe created a free pass for users who usually travel unlimited on Cercanías and Rodalies. These free trips are also aimed at those who travel regularly, in the same station of origin and destination, on the services of Medium distance. On Avant trains, the 50% reductions have also been extended until December 31, a date which could mark the end of this aid.
The end of free travel on Cercanías?
Oscar Puente advocated the end of free travel on Cercanías and Media Distancia in an interview with SER chain in which he also clarified that these free passes could be replaced by affordable fares which would continue to benefit people who travel regularly on these transport networks.
“I don’t know if the free subscriptions will be renewed. It doesn’t depend on me. “It will depend on the budgetary negotiations and the negotiations of the Spanish government,” said the Minister of Pedro Sanchez after being asked about these free subscriptions during an interview. Óscar Puente also made it clear that he was not in favor of maintaining these measures which were extended for one year until December 31, 2024.
“My position is that this policy needs to change. Free transport was a temporary policy, aimed at relieving the family economy, but I believe that the commitment to public transport must be above all a question of quality, comfort, frequency, punctuality… “, he declared while specifying that: “I think that we will gain users not according to the price, which is already quite low, but according to the fact that we give the user more quality , more reliability, etc. “This is where we need to make efforts.”
The minister also called for continuing to use cheaper fertilizers. “I think we need to maintain ticket support, thinking about social bonuses, recurring subscriptions, a pricing policy that has more to do with the type of user. For example, we are considering a form of payment in arrears, which, depending on usage, will be cheaper,” he said.
Prices in Cercanías and Media Distancia
In this way, everything indicates that from January 1, 2025, the usual Cercanías prices will return. Current rates, without discounts, vary depending on the areas in which travelers are traveling. So, a subscription for the basic zone without discount has a price of 28.90 per month while zone 3 will have a cost of 36.70. Zone 7, which covers territories even outside the Community of Madrid, has a cost of 92.70 euros per month which, for example, will have to be paid by a person who goes to work daily in the capital.
