VALENCIA AUTONOMOUS REGION SAVES 15,000 MILLIONS OF PESETAS THANKS TO THE TRAIN
COSTA MARTINEZ VERDU
The trains which travel in Valencia every year save more than 14,900 millions of pesetas (90 millions of euros), as an study made by the German University of Karlsruhe and the Swedish consultory INFRAS AG. That report shows that the use of the train provokes an important save to the European society, to the Spanish one and to the Valencian one particularly, as a consequence of the decrease of the cases of accidents, congestion, environmental contamination, noise and a less climatic change in relation to other means of transport.
Suburban services have saved 4,101 millions of pesetas (24 millions of euros) and 18,163,334 travels by car in Valencia Autonomous Region.
In 1994, the German University of Karlsruhe and the Swedish consultory INFRAS AG began an analysis of the impact caused by the different means of transport in all the European countries. In general, the study reflected positive results for the train, considered like the mean of transport which generates the highest saving in the Valencian society. The University of Karlsruhe and the INFRAS AG consultory considered that the train saved during this period around 13,170 millions of pesetas (79 millions of euros) to Valencia.
This study centers its analysis in five aspects directly related to the impact generated by different ways of transport, the accidentality of each them, the jam provoked by them, the environmental and acustic contamination and their climatic effect.
This analysis, updated some years later, shows very good results for the train. If in 1994 the annual savings of the trains in Valencia was placed at 13,170 millions (79 millions of euros) just mentioned, in 1998 the just mentioned institutions calculated that the train every year saved to this Region 14,900 millions of pesetas, a quantity that improves in a 9% the annual savings reflected in the study.
This has been compossed by the University of Karlsruhe and the INFRAS AG consultory and is structured in relation to a very simple premise: What would happen if this mean of transport wouldn't be. The results are very surprised.
The Regional Trains have saved 254 millions of pesetas (around 2 millions of euros) and 548,334 travels by car in Valencia.
If there hadn't been the train, more than 21 millions of people that every day travel in Valencia using the suburban trains, the 658,000 people that each year travel in the Regional Trains and the 4,045,641 people that use the Great Lines trains in Valencia and the 2.5 millions of tons of merchandise transported by the trains, would have chosen, in most of the cases, alternative ways of transport by road and, above all, using their private vehicles.
All of this would provoke a great increase of the accidents, jams in roads and airports, specially at the accesses to the big cities (increase of the cost in gasoline and lack of time to enjoy), environmental contamination (the train does not contaminate because uses electric energy), acustic contamination (a train of travellers can transport the equivalent to 1,250 cars and a merchandise train can carry merchandise of 25 lorries) and an accentuation of the phenomenon of the environmental change (the alternative transport transmits very dangerous gases for the ozone).
The saving, according to the analysis, "is derived of the external costs which are not covered by the traveller, such as the administrative costs of the police, administration, justice, medical cares, lacks of production and of human lifes, lacks of time in the urban zones, noise, environmental contamination and climatic changes that do not influence in direct line in the price paid by the passanger of any mean of transport".
The Great Lines trains are the service that more savings generate in Valencia. In fact, the Great Lines trains, save in this region 5,713 millions of pesetas (34 millions of euros), result of the transport of more than 4,145,614 travellers in 1.998. With this movement, Renfe's Great Lines Unit avoided the equivalent to 2,022,821 travellers in their private vehicles.
Great Lines have saved 5,713 millions of pesetas (34 millions of euros) and 2,022,821 travels by car in Valencia.
The nearness trains saved 4,101 millions of pesetas (25 millions of euros), as a consequence of the annual movement of 21,796,000 travellers, who travel from the outsiders to Valencia and Castellón respective centers. With that, the use of the train avoided more than 18 millions of travels by road.
In the other side, the Regional Trains show a saving of 254 millions of pesetas (2 millions of euros). The Regionals were used by 659,000 travellers in 1998, avoiding 54,334 travels by car.
In relation to the merchandise traffic, the trains that save more are the Merchandise trains, merchandise transport by complete trains. The Merchandise trains, which carried last year 2,558,000 tons, avoided the movement of 102,320 very heavy lorries (of 25 tons each one). The savings provoked by the Merchandise trains is 2,436 millions of pesetas (15 millions of euros) in Valencia.
In the other hand, the Combined Transport Trains moved, more or less, 220,781 containers in Valencia, so that they avoided the circulation on the roads of other much lorries. The savings that generated this service was 2,423 millions of pesetas (16 millions of euros) in this region.
All put together, the use of the train in Valencia has avoided the movement by road of 20,734,489 cars and 323,101 lorries.
Merchandise and Combined Transport have saved 4,859 millons of pesetas (29 millions of euros) and 323,101 travels by lorry in Valencia.
