The plans of the Community of Madrid do not include requesting the transfer of the Cercanías service. In statements to the media during a visit to the construction works of the Comillas station on metro line 11, its Minister of Transport assures that he does not plan to request the transfer of its management, in relation to the criteria of Catalonia.
“We don’t have it on the table. In Madrid, the different railway lines, not only the Cercanías services, but also the High Speed and Medium Distance, are the radials where they originate towards the rest of Spain and what we want is to invest in Cercanías”, Jorge Rodrigo insisted.
His refusal to request management was mixed with criticism from Minister Óscar Puente for the problems recorded in the short-distance train network in Madrid. Rodrigo assures that so far this year, more than 624 incidents have been recorded on this network, compared to 724 for the whole of 2023. He also believes that “fewer and fewer Madrilenians use this service due to the insecurity it generates.”
Thus, he said that Puente is “lying” when he claims that the railway infrastructure is at its best. “The minister has reached his highest level of incompetence; he is clumsy in his management and I think that in the case of Cercanías, we Madrilenians have to see how this railway service is not working,” he said.
The Ayuso government requested more investment in the network and also demanded the holding of the Transport Sector Conference between the ministry and the autonomous communities, as requested by the regions with popular governments, “so that they can tell us what they are doing. regarding transport at the national level. “All the transport councilors of the autonomous communities governed by the Popular Party sent him a letter requesting this celebration, this meeting of the Transport Sector Commission and the minister, who is very dedicated to it, did not respond to any of the councilors,” he concluded.
