Railway Expert in Spain Prefers Car Over Train

Salvador Galve, one of Spain's leading railway infrastructure experts and president of the Railway Commission of the College of Industrial Engineers, made a striking confession at an inquiry commission held in the Senato. Stating that he used his own car instead of the train when traveling from Zaragoza to Barcelona for business meetings, Galve cited constant delays and cancellations as the reason. The fact that one of the country's greatest railway experts avoids trains to arrive on time reveals how shattered confidence in the Spanish high-speed train (AVE) system has become. Emphasizing that train services towards Madrid generally run on time but the situation is different on the Barcelona route, Galve added that this has become a normalized habit in the business world. Galve stated that people have gotten used to these disruptions, arguing that this is merely a statistical data point and not a situation to be exaggerated.

During his comprehensive presentation lasting over four hours at the Senato, Galve tried to somewhat alleviate public concerns regarding the system's safety. The expert stated that one hundred percent safety and zero risk are impossible in any transportation system, adding that risks are tried to be minimized as much as possible in the current system. However, his statements were overshadowed by the growing safety concerns in Spain following recent train derailment accidents, particularly in the Adamuz area in Cordoba and the Gelida area in Barcelona. Following these accidents, the country's railway network has been subjected to a deep investigation process, and authorities are trying to understand what happened. Galve emphasized that the current situation represents a process that needs to be analyzed in detail as soon as possible for the integrity of the system.

The corporate separation carried out in 2005 at the request of the European Union is shown as one of the most important factors behind the current problems of the Spanish railway system. According to Galve, the complete separation of Adif, which manages the infrastructure, and Renfe, which operates the trains, was a critical mistake where the process was taken too far. Stating that no European country has made such a strict separation, the expert expressed that this structure paved the way for coordination deficiencies and operational problems. To solve this problem, he argued that an independent and technical board should be established to harmoniously coordinate both institutions away from political interventions. In his own words, this new structure is expected to act as a 'conductor' that will protect the system from political fluctuations and manage the entire mechanism like a harmonious symphony orchestra.

Strategic errors observed in the distribution of railway investments constitute another significant dimension of the system's current crisis. Galve explicitly stated that Spain does not use the budget it spends to improve the quality of its existing railway network efficiently, drawing attention to the fact that political pressures unnecessarily direct investment decisions. He argued that the massive budget of 3,5 billion euros allocated for the new high-speed train line between Murcia and Almería would yield much more efficient results if used to strengthen the already existing and troubled network. Furthermore, he added that because the existing lines are not adequately maintained, temporary speed restrictions are frequently resorted to in order to ensure safety, and this situation triggers delays in services. It is noted that instead of detecting and solving minor problems before they grow, officials lower the overall speed of the system, creating a kind of paralyzing effect.

Following all these findings, the steps that need to be taken for a solution were also clearly laid on the table. Galve demanded from the Senato commission a comprehensive and fully independent audit, similar to the in-depth investigation conducted following the tragic Angrois train accident in 2014. He stated that this official audit would reveal with objective data whether the system truly needs a structural revision and would go beyond political policies. On the other hand, the association representing the victims of the Adamuz accident tightened the situation further by calling for all railway traffic to be immediately halted until real-time track break detection technology is provided. However, Galve pointed out that there is currently no advanced technology capable of instantaneous and flawless track break detection in any railway system in the world, emphasizing the need to focus on slow but permanent solutions within the framework of current conditions and technological limits.