THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE MOBILITY MODEL TOWARDS A MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, EMISSION-FREE TRANSPORT MAKES THE RAILWAY THE MAIN COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY
The population of the large cities is undergoing an upward transformation in recent years with the creation of urban centres close to them as an extension of such cities. Currently, according to the World Bank, and when the world population figure is close to 8 billion individuals, 56 percent of them live in cities, that is, practically 4,4 billion, and it is expected that this number will increase gradually to reach 6 billion in 2045.
Meanwhile, the latest UN-HABITAT report, presented at the end of last year, considers that in the horizon of the year 2050 the population that lives in the city outskirts will be greater than 68 percent, and it summarises it in the conclusion that, at the rate of arrival at these habitat points, two-thirds of the world’s population (an estimated 8.5 billion by 2050) will live in the cities. In the particular case of Spain, the forecast is that by that year it will be 88 percent of the population resident in the country that does so in any of the provincial capitals.
The experience and knowledge of the Spanish industry is not only in demand for the development of high-speed networks, but countries around the world want to rely on the work of Spanish companies for public transport networks, such as commuter trains, tram or metro. The goal they pursue? To implement modern, sustainable, and highly efficient systems.
In short, the challenge facing the cities of the future is to find smart solutions that allow to take advantage of the new less polluting fuels that reduce CO2 emissions, taking advantage of the synergies between the different forms of urban transport and accelerating the intermodality with the other systems that arrive from abroad, with the interurban means of movement of people and goods.
The commitment to its guidance and execution of urban transport networks is based on the great ability they have shown in recent years. Proof of this are projects such as the Riyadh Metro, which has been characterised by its great complexity from the technical point of view; also the Lima Metro or the Toronto Subway, among a long list that goes around the world.
In addition, they have been protagonists of the mobility programmes of large cities such as the Muscat Public Transport Master Plan (Oman), the Kuwait City Metro Master Plan (Kuwait), among others. On the other hand, the experience acquired in the implementation of the longest automated metro line in Europe, L9 of the Barcelona suburban metro, has also become international. Many of the contracts include self-driving systems and rolling stock sets for these lines. For example, the Singapore, Sydney or Amsterdam Metros among many others.
