Spain’s Transport Chief Resigns Over Too Big Trains

Date: 21 February 2023 - 21:33

News ID: ۱۱۲۶۵۳

MADRID (Guardian) -- Spain’s secretary of state for transport and the head of the state rail company have resigned amid continuing public and political anger after it emerged that dozens of new trains ordered for two northern Spanish regions were too big to fit through some tunnels.
Three years ago, the state rail operator, Renfe, announced plans to modernize the rolling stock on narrow-gauge commuter trains and medium-distance trains in Asturias and Cantabria.
But it was revealed last month that the trains being built under the €258 million (£227.5 million) contract would be too wide to pass through some of the tunnels in the two regions.
Miguel Ángel Revilla, the regional president of Cantabria, described the project as a “bodge” and called for urgent action, while Adrián Barbón, the president of neighboring Asturias, said he was “baffled, angry and disappointed”.
The firing last month of two senior officials – one at Renfe and the other at the state rail infrastructure company, Adif – proved insufficient to placate those angry over the poor planning and the consequent delay.
On Monday, Isabel Pardo de Vera, Spain’s secretary of state for transport, tendered her resignation, as did Isaías Táboas, the president of Renfe.
The Socialist-led coalition government of prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has tried to make further amends by announcing that travel on the Asturian and Cantabrian networks affected by the delays would be free until the new rolling stock began to come into service in early 2026.
“From the moment I found out about this matter, I’ve done everything I could to find out what happened and to find a solution,” Spain’s transport minister, Raquel Sánchez, told reporters after meeting Revilla and Barbón on Monday.