Cercanías (suburban) and conventional lines will be a key focus for investment in 2019 and the ministry’s investment budget for these routes has been tripled. The ministry says this is in line with the government’s policy of “reversing the abandonment to which both have been subjected in recent years and aiming to guarantee inter-regional connectivity and mobility.”
Infrastructure manager Adif has therefore been set an investment budget of €2.24bn this year, an increase of 160% compared with 2018.
High-speed subsidiary Adif AV will receive €2.66bn from the ministry’s budget, a 2% year-on-year reduction.
Renfe’s investment budget will increase by 122% from €378m last year to €839m in 2019.
Investment in the Cercanías networks, a priority for the government, will reach €1.35bn, including €1.09bn for Adif and €263m for Renfe.
This will break the long-standing hiatus in Renfe conventional rolling stock procurement. Renfe is preparing to launch four tenders this year for suburban and regional fleet with a total value of around €3bn.
