“When I go from Zaragoza to Barcelona, ​​I go by car”

This is how forceful this Wednesday was Salvador Galve, dean of the Official College of Industrial Engineers of Aragon and La Rioja and president of the Railway Commission of the Council of Colleges of Industrial Engineers of Spain. And during his appearance at the commission of inquiry into the state of the railway network, Galve admits who prefers the car to the train.

Distrust. Galve is one of the country’s leading specialists in railway infrastructure. The fact that he is precisely the one who admits that he avoids the train to avoid the risk of being late for a work meeting portrays, better than any statistic, the mistrust generated today delays and incidents on the AVE.

In detail. Galve himself has explained the reason for this custom: “When I go to Barcelona from Zaragoza and have a meeting, I go by car. When I go to Madrid I try to go by train because it usually arrives, but the majority of managers who go from Zaragoza go by car because they don’t know when they are going to arrive,” he declared before the Upper House. According to the expert, this way of acting has become normalized among professionals who need to keep schedules. “We are getting used to” the incidents, he acknowledged, although he also maintains that “it is a fact, we should not tear our clothes.”

No security guarantees. Despite this confession, Galve has avoided raising alarm about the security of the system. Asked if the network can be considered reliable despite the failures, has insisted in which zero risk does not exist in any transportation system. “You minimize the risk but you cannot guarantee 100% security,” he continued.

What’s behind. Galve’s testimony comes in the midst of an examination of the railway system after the Adamuz derailments (Cordoba) and Gelida (Barcelona). In his appearance, which lasted almost four hours, according to Telemadridthe engineer has pointed out as one of the underlying causes the separation between Adif, infrastructure manager, and Renfe, train operator, decided in Spain in 2005 due to European demand. In his opinion, that division was taken too far. “It makes no sense to separate so much, no country has done it,” he stated.

That is why he has demanded the creation of a single technical body that coordinates both companies before the decisions reach the political level of the Ministry of Transport, a figure that he himself has described, according to Diario Córdobaas “a kind of conductor of the railway system, who would make Renfe and Adif sound good and who would not be subject to political ups and downs.”

Investment, in the spotlight. Galve has also questioned how the money allocated to the railway is distributed. Asked if Spain invests well in its network, answered directly “no”, according to Diario Córdoba, pointing out that the political weight of each autonomous community determines which lines receive more budget. As an example, he cited the 3.5 billion euros allocated to the new High Speed ​​line between Murcia and Almería, an investment that, in his opinion, could yield more if it were dedicated to reinforcing the existing network in the country.

Regarding maintenance, he has warned that the lack of resources is reflected in the constant increase in temporary speed limitations (LTV), a mechanism that line managers activate as a preventive measure when they detect incidents that do not require a total closure.

And now what. Galve has asked that the Senate commission request a “proper audit” on the real state of the network, similar to the one commissioned in 2014 after the Angrois accident, to determine with objective data whether the system needs a structural review.

The request also coincides with that demanded by the Adamuz Derailment Victims Association, which this Wednesday has claimed to the Ministry of Transport and Adif the immediate paralysis of all railway traffic until the detection of track breaks in real time is guaranteed, as reported by Telemadrid. Galve, however, has qualified that this instant detection technology “does not exist right now” in any railway system.

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