The local institutions of Álava and Navarra will defend in Madrid the need to modernise the current railway infrastructure. It will be held before the representatives of the Committee on Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda at the meeting on 22 June. The objective of this meeting is to show “concern” about the announced high-speed projects and to concretize the proposal that is being supported to improve the current rail service that unites these local entities.

An institutional initiative was launched in March calling for the rethinking of the current rail network, with the aim of providing a real solution to freight and passenger transport, improving arrival times and facilitating territorial cohesion and structuring. Representatives of 35 local entities participated in the first meeting, on 10 March. It was then agreed that a manifesto is being discussed and approved in many councils and councils of the corridor affected by the high-speed platforms designed in Álava and Navarra.

In this manifesto it is recalled that high-speed projects are being challenged more than ever through numerous institutions and entities. The latter has been the European Union, the rules on the trans-European transport network are being revised and it proposes the modernisation of the existing railway infrastructures in place of these high-speed lines. The European Court of Auditors also said that what was planned will not end until 2030, that overruns and delays have become standards and that promised speeds are not being achieved. It concluded that many of European aid is “wasted”, jeopardising its co-financing.

Faced with this situation, the local authorities that drive this initiative undertake to continue working together with the social partners “until a solution respectful of our territory meets the mobility needs of our neighbours”.

In this regard, they also recall the agreement signed in May 2021 between the popular railway platforms and the main railway unions in the Spanish State. This agreement called on the Government of Spain to adapt and improve the existing railway lines, and to reorient the planning of the current railway project, to the circulation of high-performance trains on the current improved and adapted corridors.

Finally, they call for the rapid materialisation of the EUR 200,000 set out in the State’s general budget for 2022 for the drafting of the study on the improvement and adequacy of railway infrastructure.