photo: RAILTARGET/Óscar Puente
RAILTARGET presents an interview with Óscar Puente, Spain's Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, at the Czech Republic-Spain Railways Business Forum held in Prague. Minister Puente discusses the potential for collaboration between Spain and the Czech Republic and Spain's significant contributions to a connected European railway network.
What do you think is the future of railways in Europe?
In Europe, we need to work in two directions– transport and connections. We need to create a single railway space in Europe and work on the new high-speed railway networks. I spoke with the Transport Minister of the Czech Republic a few minutes ago and explained our experience with high-speed railways and trains to him. We are the country that has the highest percentage of the population connected by high-speed railways, which is 70%, the only country in the world and only behind China in kilometers of high-speed railways. We have a lot of experience we can share with all the countries in the European Union, and the Czech Republic is one of the clearest opportunities to have full cooperation between the two countries.
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Today in Prague, at the Czech Republic-Spain Railways Business Forum, key stakeholders from the Czech and Spanish railway sectors convene to discuss future…
Do you think there is room for Spanish companies in the construction of high-speed lines in the Czech Republic?
Absolutely. As I've said, we have a wonderful ecosystem and a great environment around the high-speed rail network. We have the best companies for public work and the lowest cost of high-speed trains in the world, even lower than in China. Just to give you an idea, the cost of high-speed trains in Great Britain is nine times the Spanish cost. I said to the Minister that we invested in Spain 45,000 million euros in our high-speed railway network, which is approximately the estimated cost of only one line in the USA from Dallas to Houston. That single line costs the whole amount of money we have invested in Spain for the entire railway network, which is more than 4,000 km. We are a country that has lots of experience in this particular subject, and we can help the Czech Republic in the processes they are starting to develop.