The agreement to rule out the implementation of new tolls on roads managed by the State, advanced yesterday by La Vanguardia, has caused discomfort in two business sectors that feel harmed: construction and the new high-speed railway companies that compete with Renfe. in the process of liberalization of passenger transport. In their strategic lines they counted on the implementation of pay-for-use of some highways and highways could become a new business opportunity that they did not want to miss. But the fact that the Government has managed to modify the commitment directly impacts its future plans.
The construction companies had been closely following the toll plan that should have been implemented from 2024. The Seopan employers’ association, which brings together companies such as Ferrovial, ACS, FCC, OHLA, Sacyr or Acciona, among others, defends that payment per use It is a “mandatory matter” for the next Government to try to alleviate the “investment deficit” that, in his opinion, Spanish roads suffer. At this time, and will continue to be, the conservation of the vast majority of expressways is the responsibility of the general budgets, so the sector saw tolls as a solution to increase public tenders for road maintenance.
Construction companies estimate the accumulated road maintenance deficit at at least 7.5 billion at the end of 2022. Business sources regret the decision that the Government does not address the problem in an ambitious way and highlight that in the last decade “the conservation and Road safety has contracted by 76%”, which represents “a problem of safety, ecology (an adequate investment would minimize the impact of polluting emissions) and mobility (to create new HOV or reserved bus lanes)”. They demand that the Government now, once the toll plan has been withdrawn, study formulas to increase tenders to have “a sustainable highway network typical of the 21st century.”
The second business sector that feels harmed by the agreement that allows the Government not to implement tolls is that of companies specialized in high-speed rail passenger transport. Companies such as Ouigo and Iryo, with French and Italian capital respectively, which compete with Renfe, contemplated in their business plans that paying for the use of highways and highways could discourage the transportation of people by road and increase the number of people taking the train. They also saw a business opportunity that they will not be able to develop now. The British Trainline, the train ticket comparator, is in a similar situation.
Sources close to these companies point out that they did not expect the decision to eliminate the toll plan. Just yesterday they raised their displeasure with the Ministry of Transportation for what they consider a “penalty towards high speed,” they denounce. Ouigo even went so far as to describe free roads as “hidden aid” to transportation by all Spaniards through taxes, according to what its general director, Hélène Valenzuela, said last week.
The Government minimizes the fact that private high-speed operators are going to be affected and refers them to the second phase of the liberalization of passenger transport by rail. They also remember that the initiative of the Ministry of Transport to provide discounts to young people for their travel has benefited these companies.
Renfe has a different vision from its private competitors. The public operator’s strategic plan until 2028 does not contemplate any impact on its business due to the elimination of the toll plan from the commitments agreed with Brussels. The company chaired by Raül Blanco does not, therefore, foresee a scenario different from the current one.
