Oviedo (EFE).- The Government of the Principality will ask Renfe that, once the Pajares variant that will enable the arrival of high-speed rail to Asturias is put into service in November, the capacity of available places with origin and destination is doubled in the region and that Avilés has a daily connection service with Madrid in both directions.
The future operation of the high-speed line between Gijón and Madrid, with a stop in Oviedo, will be the subject of negotiations with the railway operator once the regional elections on the 28th are over, when the Asturian Government plans to meet with the social and economic agents of the community to design the needs of the region when it has AVE.
This was confirmed by the Minister for Rural Affairs and Territorial Cohesion, Alejandro Calvo, after participating in the meeting held today at the headquarters of the Principality’s Presidency by the General Secretary for Infrastructure, Xavier Flores, and the president of Adif, María Luisa Domínguez, with the head of the Asturian Executive, Adrián Barbón.
After learning about the new Ministry forecasts, which put the Pajares variant into service in November, Calvo has advocated “making the most of” the time remaining until then to maximize the potential of the arrival of high-speed to Asturias after the “disappointment” caused by the delay in its inauguration, initially scheduled for May.
About 600,000 passengers
A report prepared by the Asturian Government predicted that, once the line between Madrid and Asturias is consolidated, the number of travelers arriving in the Principality by train will rise to almost 600,000, 147 percent more than the 241,700 in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, which will make it necessary, according to Calvo, to progressively increase the capacity of the line.
However, he has admitted, this increase could be linked to the incorporation into the service of Avril trains to circulate on the line -which can reach speeds of up to 330 kilometers between Madrid and León and a maximum of 250 in the rest of the journey-, some units still in the process of homologation and whose delivery has suffered a delay compared to the forecasts of the Ministry.
In addition, the counselor has stressed the need to define with the representatives of a company “a bit exhausted” and in which a “lack of credibility” is detected with the AVE deadlines -17 different dates have already been given for commissioning – The future offer for the transport of merchandise, promoting a “railway highway” for this purpose.
Cost reduction for goods
According to Calvo, the commissioning of the bypass, which will mean removing the old Pajares ramp built in the 19th century, the design of which conditioned its use for goods, will reduce the cost for companies in the Principality by up to a third, from where Some 2,000 million tons left by train in 2019, according to the latest available data.
In addition, in terms of passenger transport, Calvo has considered that high speed will serve to seasonally adjust tourism in Asturias and, in this sense, has requested that the weeks prior to its entry into service, since it will be in low season, be used to promote one of Renfe’s “ambitious” promotional campaigns in which it offers thousands of low-cost tickets. EFE
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