French Railways SNCF Calls for “Equal Conditions” in Spain – But Will These Be Ensured in France as well?
La SNCF réclame des “conditions égales” en Espagne – mais le seront-elles aussi en France?
España: El ministro de Transportes afirma: El actual modelo de liberalización “beneficia a cualquier cosa menos a la libre competencia”
España es presentada por algunos como un ejemplo en Europa de los beneficios de la apertura del transporte ferroviario de pasajeros. Sin embargo, el nuevo ministro socialista de Transportes, Óscar Puente, dijo recientemente en el Congreso de los Diputados que este modelo de liberalización - en el que solo compiten entre sí las compañias estatales - tiene "efectos perjudiciales" ya que sus pérdidas "tendrán el colchón del Estado para cubrirlas".
Spain: Transport Minister says: Current Market Opening Model “Benefits Anything but Free Competition”
Spain is portrayed by some as an example of the benefits of passenger rail opening in Europe. However, Spain's new centre-left Transport Minister Óscar Puente recently said in parliament that this liberalisation model - in which only state incumbents compete with each other - has “damaging effects” because their losses will "have the cushion of the state to cover them”.
Renfe’s Commitments: Good First Step, but not Enough to Ensure Transparent and Impartial Rail Ticket Retail for EU Citizens
The EU Commission last week accepted the Spanish state-owned passenger rail incumbent Renfe's commitments to a fairer, more transparent market - a step that ALLRAIL welcomes.These commitments, now legally binding, constitute a positive step following the DB precedent last year in Germany and can lead to enhanced competition in the European rail ticketing market, allowing independent ticket vendors more chance to compete with the in-house ticket vendor of market-dominant Renfe.