Could you make a brief description of the functions of the GIF and of their planns in a short-date and medium-date?
The Managment of the Railway Substructure is a public company which was created out of a law of the Spanish Parliament. His main functions are the construction of those new railway lines entrusted by the Government, or even the administration of the nowadays existing lines, always following the directives of the Government. The GIF have two charges: one, the construction and exploitation of the railway line Madrid-Barcelona-French Board; the other one, the construction of the line Madrid-Valladolid.
In relation to its functioning, we build these lines with charge to the State founds, european founds and, when they both do not cover it, the indoubting , now that we can do it.
Who is going to direct the management of the lines after their construction?
The management depends on the Government. In the case of Madrid-Barcelona-French Board they have encharged us the management of the substructure. The stations that nowadays belong to Renfe are part of its patrimony, and will be the owner who directs it if we do not make inversions. Obviously, we are going to be the managers and administrators of the new stations we construct. And, of course, we are going to be the managers of the line Madrid-Barcelona-French Board. We will take a canon from the operators that pass through the line, for example to Renfe, that will serve to pay the costs of maintenance of the substructure and to pay the credits that we had to ask for the financiation of the inversions.
The existence of the GIF in medium and long-term means a new philosopy and a revolucionary change of the concept of the railway substructure and of the railway in Spain. Which will be the logic projection?
The GIF responds to the interests of the European Economic Community, interests that are reflected in the legislation. It is not an idea of the Government, but a tendency reflected in the european legislation that has to make a difference between the substructure from the operation and make them both rentable. With that the managment of the substructure and the railway operation is optimized, given that in Europe the tendency is that the operator is not just one entity, but varios organizations. This is the main philosophy of the creation of the GIF.
Who can be operators in a medium-date, apart from Renfe?
Nowadays, according to the european legislation, apart form Renfe-that will always be the most important company in Spain-, the international agrupations. A recient document of the Government autorizes the formation of agrupations of this type to facilitate the international traffic, such as Paris-Madrid or Paris-Barcelona. Also the autonomic communities, whose statutes contemplate the development of the railway railway traffic, could create operator companies.
If a bank, for example, would want to create a railway operator tomorroy, could it do it?
No, because in Spain there not exist the legislation yet. There are states that have already adopted this system, like the United Kingdom, where there exist 25 operators. The tendency is the existence of more than one operator and that they competion against each other to achieve their objectives. This would be very good for the transport of travellers and of merchandise.
Everybody assures that the Generalitat of Calalunya is the second operator, is it truth?
It is a possibility that the lines of Cataluña were covered by the Railways of the Generalitat, who would possibly be the operator. For us, like exploitators of the company, the existence of different operators is very good because they pay us canons and they let us to maintain the substructure and the construction of new lines. This is even good for all the Spanish territory, because the benefits of the canon are not only inverted in this line, but can revert in other operations of the GIF.
In global numbers, how much are the inversions of the GIF?
Nowadays, we can speak of a billion one hundred thousand millions of pesetas in the line Madrid-Barcelona-French Board, quantity which can increase, and of 400.000 millions in the Madrid-Valladolid.
There is a fight to get the lines of high-deep, but nobody seems to desire the conventional line...
It is not true. We offer the same service to this country than Renfe does. Futhermore, we both belong to the same Ministery, and I have very good relations with them. But apart from my personal relations with them, it is obvious that all of us are working to develope an especific politic for the Government. In relation to the line of high-deep, no matter the wide, it offers a kind of advantages, althouth if it is of international wide, it let you change the axels in the frontier.
And it is necessary the line of special wide. The great part of our lines, except the one of Madrid-Sevilla and Madrid-Barcelona, have it, what make it the most important rail of our country, and have to be mantained in the future. Both rails are totally necessary, so that they must be maintained in the future.
Futhermore, this rail of high-deep of international wide benefits the conventional rail, because the trains that , when finished the line Madrid-Barcelona, go to Pamplona, they will go in the line of international wide until a determined place, where they will change and will go to Pamplona in the normal wide. This way, everybody will win, given that the trains of high-deep permits that the merchandise trains can circulate better. This way, they complement each other.
Nowadays, the GIF have the advantage that can have doubts, because it follows the european rules that asks some incomes that permits the financiation of its costs and this is fundamental. My personal opinion is that it must continue in this line, with the GIF in his actual structure and developing all their projects in the shortest period of time. Later on, it will be the Government who decide which is the structure to develope; if all the substructure must be managed by the GIF, or must be created other organization, or if it must continue like nowadays.
There exist journalistic information about the transpassing of an important part of the substructure of Renfe to GIF...
I don' t know.This is not our competence, but of the politic of the Government. What I say is that, at this moment, with the stablished inversions, we need a substructure that allow us to endoubt ourseoves. And to get that the doubt belongs to the company, and not to the state, our incomes cover around the 50% of the costs of exploitation. This would be possible in a great structure. Then, what we would do is to stop the Spanish railway system. I think that it is very important that, at least during some years, we were able to maintain the actual structure.
Has been decided that wide of the line Madrid-Valladolid?
This theme is not of our competence, but of the Government and of the Substructure Ministery. That is why I cannot say anything about it. The Substructure Ministery is studing the national plannification of the future of the Spanish railway. I think that it has the intention of making it public in the next months. It will be the next months when they will decide about it.
Which is the opinion of the GIF?
Of course, I have my own opinion, but not only form the point of view of the GIF, but from the Spanish railway system' s point of view. I have an idea: given that the line Madrid-Sevilla and Madrid -Barcelona-French Board have been constructed with the international wide, soon or later, depending on the budgets, the Mediterranean corridor will be constructed with the international wide. That way, the line Madrid-Valencia will be constructed with the international wide, and also the line Madrid-Valladolid. This will permits the creation of other stretcht, that is the atlantic axle, the origin of all the other stretchs that would service all the national territory and would structurate the rail coherently.
There exist some indeterminations in relation to the concepts of high-deep and high-velocity. What do you think about the use of both of them to their coordination?
Obviously, everything tht could be made with high-deep must be done, in the transport of merchandise and everything. It is evident, for example, that it is necessary to make the distance in the shortest period of time. We travell in the line Madrid-Barcelona with a velocity of 350km/h to arrive in two hours and a half. The high-deep must be introduced in all the stretchts where possible. The matter is that there are economic limitations that do not let its stablishment. There also exist substructure limitations about the existence of two different wides. That is why there are zones where it would be possible to circulate at 350 km/h, zones where the trains only can drive at 220 and zones where it would be possible to drive at 160. All these has to exist according to the budget possibilities to make a better rail at a national level. The high-deep is a revolution and it is necessary that somebody would cross Spain in four hours. This is the most important objective.
When is it planned the achievment of this objective?
This depends on the budget and of a lot of things. I cannot answer to this question.
It has been commented the possibility of creating a great by pass that would leave out Zaragoza and would let the trains go faster.
The line Madrid-Barcelona is constructed with a specific characteristics in relation to the velocity and to shorten the times as much as possible: Madrid-Zaragoza in one hour twenty, Madrid-Lleida in one hour fifty and Madrid-Barcelona in two hours and a half. The by pass is been constructed in Zaragoza and it is planned to be cosntructed in Barcelona and in Lleida.
Everybody speaks of a coordination with the structure of high-deep that would finish in Tarragona.
What you are reffering to is to the polemic about the possibility of the Generalitat exploiting the regional trains. Legally, this is possible and we are very interested in it. The compromise of the Ministery is to arrive to Barcelona and to the frontier in the 2004. Everything can be planned and when the plannification is made, it must be done for the next 20 or 30 years.
How is Tarragona integrated?
Originally, it was planned a station in Perafort , outside Tarragona. The plannification is a competence of the Ministery, and it is the Misnistery the one that has the last word.
Does it exist expiry date for the Madrid-Valladolid?
The other day I was telling in Valladolid that for the Ministery the line Madrid-Barcelona has the same priority than the line Madrid-Valladolid. And even if nobody believes it, it is true. The proof is that the only two charges of the GIF nowadays are Madrid-Barcelona-French Board and Madrid-Valladolid. But it is the line Madrid-Barcelona-French Board the line where we have worked during longest time, so that the works are more advanced.
There woul be money for the line Madrid-Valladolid?
Yes, I think so. The expiring time will be a little be longer because, if at the end we choose the solution of the tunnels, the execution it carries a considerable time. But the Ministery, and specially the minister, is interested in its construction of it the sooner as possible. What nowadays has been constructed is the stretcht between Segovia and Valladolid, and at the beginning of the 2000 we will contract the stretchs between Segovia and Valladolid.
Has the placement of the station of the station of Segovia been decided?
It is expected that there be trains that travell Madrid-Segovia or Segovia-Valladolid and come in the station of Segovia. There also be direct trains to Valladolid.
What about the possibility of the train of high-deep to Portugal?
The GIF does not know anything about it.
The line Madrid-Barcelona is going to be a pioneer line in the world in relation to the creation of a train of high-deep to 350 km/h. Are going to arrive the constructors of material to the tender?
I think so.If we are making a line to 350 km/h, it is normal that the contructors of material had vehicles for this velocity. The ones that do not yet have it, must hurry the development, because otherwise, they will be out of the tender. We are waiting to use some trains. They have offered us for the stretch of prood between Zaragoza and Lleida. When we began the exploitation of the line Madrid-Lleida (year 2000), this can be made with other trains of moving tread, but in some time they will be trains of high-deep. The time of travell between Madrid and Barcelona gives a medium of velocity of 270 km/h, which is the highest of the world.The next one is in Japón, with a medium of 261 km/h in a stretch of 100 km. This is a line that marks a time.
And the one of the line Madrid-Valencia?
Madrid-Valencia is another problem about which I do not know anything.This is the Ministery and the Governement who has to decide about it. However, I am sure that they have assumed the role that correspond to them and they are doing studies , although not in public. The stretchs Madrid, Valencia and Castilla-la Mancha are very important for us.
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