Body assures that there is no “forecast” to close the Madrid-Barcelona line during the works

The economic vice president, Carlos Body, assured in an interview on the television network La Séptima on the day of its premiere that “There is no forecast to close the Madrid-Barcelona line.”

In one of the appearances after the accident, the then Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, had not ruled out the possibility of closing the Madrid-Barcelona route during the planned resumption works, emulating the German system. The comment caused a great stir and in later moments, before resigning, Puente qualified his statements and said that it was only a possibility that could be studied.

Body has been much more blunt today in ensuring that there is no forecast of this possible closure. The minister has temporarily assumed the functions of the Ministry of Transport after the resignation of Óscar Puente last Tuesday and in the first stages at the head of the ministry he has accepted the resignation of the president of Adif and has also met with the unions in the sector.

Asked on the television program if the speed should be reduced, Corps has opened up about reducing the commercial speed of the trains: “Ten minutes more or ten minutes less is something secondary,” he specified. “There is an important element: recovering that trust and it must be done based on the recommendations of those who are on the ground, from the train drivers to the Adif operators, to the auditors.” The minister has assured that in his meetings with the unions, tomorrow he will meet with them again, he does not intend to deactivate the strike they have called but rather to work on regaining confidence and ensuring that their action plan can be fulfilled as soon as possible. “We have space until the elections to carry out legislative measures,” he added.

The minister will meet first thing on Friday with representatives of the Association of People Affected by the Adamuz accident (Córdoba). He insisted that part of his task was to take charge of the shock that the accident had caused in Spanish society and recalled that the necessary financing has already been approved to guarantee that it is invested in the network in the next five years.