THE SPANISH ECONOMIC RECOVERY, IN LINE WITH EUROPEAN OBJECTIVES, FOCUSES ITS MAIN ACTIONS ON ACHIEVING A NEW CONCEPT OF TRANSPORT – WITH ZERO EMISSIONS – WHICH TAKES ADVANTAGE OF ALL TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES. THE ACTIONS FORESEEN IN THE RECOVERY PLAN ARE BASED ON THE “SAFE, SUSTAINABLE AND CONNECTED MOBILITY STRATEGY 2030”.
The Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan exclusively devotes a section – the component 6 – to the actions foreseen in the area of “Sustainable, safe and connected mobility”. These initiatives are based on the “Safe, Sustainable and Connected Mobility Strategy 2030”, a document that will be the guide of the actions that will be carried out in the next 10 years.
The objective is to decarbonize the economy and “respond to climate change, the irruption of new technologies and the challenges produced by the increasing concentration of population in large cities”. To this end, solutions that take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalization and intermodality will be promoted, with special attention to the enhancement of the railway.
Key challenges include a new modal split where the balance is tipped towards more sustainable ways to reduce transport-associated emissions. In addition, to improve connections with ports, logistic centers and with the neighbouring countries of France and Portugal. Another challenge pursued by this strategy is to complete the European corridors in Spain and implement in the sector all the digital and technological advances available.
A SPECIFIC STRATEGY FOR THE RAILWAY
The main axis on which the new model of sustainable mobility is based is the railway. Due to the prominence, it has in the investments of the Recovery Plan, a specific roadmap for the planned actions is being worked on. This is the “Indicative Railway Infrastructure Strategy”, an instrument to plan its development, maintenance, and renovation in the coming years. In this way, efficiency in the decision-making process is improved and investment priorities are specified.
◗ Strategy: Priority objectives
I. Establish a railway planning aimed at meeting the mobility needs of users, especially those of daily mobility.
II. Improve the maintenance of the network to avoid its decapitalization and increase the reliability, comfort, and safety of railway transport.
III. Economic sustainability of the railway network, giving priority to efficiency in the application of resources.
IV. Interoperability of the network: trans-European network corridors. Enhancement of intermodality.
V. Boosting railway freight traffic.
VI. Improvement of operational safety in railway transport.
VII. Promote digitalization and innovation for connected mobility.
VIII. Increase the energy efficiency of the railway system.
Source: Own elaboration. Mafex Magazine
With this planning instrument, a roadmap for investments in railway infrastructure is established. The ultimate goal is to achieve a more sustainable, efficient, and digital transport model.