The president of Adif and Adif AV: “We have shown our commitment and efficiency in managing European funds for building railway infrastructure”

“The EU’s Recovery and Resilience Mechanism has allocated €140 billion to Spain; of which €18 billion will be managed by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda – and more than €5.8 billion of this will be direct investments by Adif and Adif Alta Velocidad. Europe has been entrusting funds for the development of railway infrastructures for many years and we have demonstrated our commitment and efficiency in their management," said María Luisa Domínguez, president of Adif and Adif Alta Velocidad. She was speaking in a new session of ‘Desayunos Esade', organized by Esade Alumni in collaboration with Criteria Caixa. During her talk, she pointed out that Adif has received European funding totaling €13.7 billion since 2000: "which we have used to modernize and develop our national railway network. We are the largest manager of European funds, and we expect to remain so for the years ahead", she added.

María Luisa Domínguez believes that the ‘tractor effect’ that this type of investment represents for the socio-economic development of Spain is crucial and explained that: "for every euro invested in infrastructure, two euros of economic activity are generated, and for every million invested, 18 direct and indirect jobs are created". Likewise, 72% of suppliers in the company's value chain are small to medium sized firms – more than 800 businesses – and she pointed out that these firms are deeply rooted in the areas where Adif develops its projects and that these firms, in turn, work with many more small and medium-sized companies. "Developing our infrastructure enables our businesses to compete in international markets. An example of this are our high-speed railways: the first high-speed line, the Madrid-Seville line, which has just turned 30, was built with European technology, but in a short space of time we have become high-speed train exporters and our businesses participate in the most ambitious projects in the main economies of the world", she added.

Adif is currently undertaking an ambitious investment plan of more than €5.4 billion and, unlike previous plans, the budget for the conventional network is larger than the high-speed network. "We have signed more than 720 contracts for the drafting and implementation of projects and as our activity is long-term, we have already agreed most of the investment plans with €18 billion to be spent for the period 2022-2025. This investment will enable us to continue facilitating territorial cohesion, socio-economic development, and the connection of people, goods, and companies, in addition to the decarbonization of our transport", she explained.

An exemplary liberalization

Another example of recent innovation and development mentioned by María Luisa Domínguez, is the liberalization of passenger rail services in Spain: "This is a notable example of how Adif works for everyone and is a benchmark in Europe and other markets. Our approach is clear, the network belongs to everyone, and we want to optimize its development because the more trains running, the more services, and better offers the public will find”.

"In Europe”, she added “people talk about the 'Spanish example’ as a model of success because for the first time, three operators are competing on the same high-speed corridor. In the last year and during the first phase of our program of democratization in the use of the Spanish railway network, the number of people with access to corridors has risen to 24.7 million in 14 provinces – that is 57% of the population”.

Domínguez believes that the liberalization process must continue as an opportunity for railway companies to use their existing capacity, beyond the current corridors, by offering more train services on a competitive basis since the network can manage more traffic.

Competing with private vehicles

The goal of Adif and Adif Alta Velocidad is to compete directly with private vehicles. "We want to lead the mobility of the future, because, in addition to managing railway infrastructure, we build and develop engineering projects, manage thousands of kilometers of fiber optic networks, and maintain more than 1,500 stations throughout the country. Train stations are much more than 'multi-nodal' points – they are centers of life through which passengers and non-passengers pass, and we want to manage them in a more efficient and sustainable way as a meeting point for citizens," María Luisa Domínguez concluded.

The president of Adif and Adif AV was accompanied by Mario Lara, director of Esade Madrid, and Juan M. Hernández Puértolas, communications director of Grupo Fundación “la Caixa”.