The Court of Accounts calculates that the Government spent 245 million more with the free Renfe subscription

It confirms that the measure increased the average number of travelers, although it points out that more than half of the users did not receive the deposit

Dec. 20 () –

The Court of Auditors has endorsed the usefulness of the free Renfe subscription for Cercanías, Media Distancia and Avant services, as it confirms that since its inception in September 2022 it has caused an increase in the average number of travelers, but believes that the Government paid 245 million more to the railway company to compensate it, since the final cost was lower than calculated.

Precisely, Podemos announced on Thursday an agreement with the Government to extend transportation discounts during the first half of next year 2025, including these free passes.

In an audit report that has just been approved by the Court of Auditors and included in Europa Press, the institution specifically explains that for its implementation and management, Renfe Viajeros received compensation of 201 million euros in the last part. of 2022 and 600 million for all of 2023.

However, it ensures that the most adjusted cost would have been 137.2 million euros and 419.1 million for the third quarter of 2022 and 2023, respectively.

INCOME DID NOT DECREASE THAT MUCH

“The real cost of the measure was lower than expected, fundamentally, because the decrease in income was less than estimated and therefore there was excess compensation to Renfe Viajeros,” the organization argues in its inspection report, where it also has detected “deficiencies in the systems for controlling the recurrence of travelers, the number of trips made with each subscription and the proper use of travel tickets.”

In turn, the organization chaired by Enriqueta Chicano says that more than half of the travelers did not obtain the return of the deposits they deposited to guarantee their regularity and the proper use of the passes.

The Court emphasizes that the magnetic stripe supports of the travel tickets did not allow “adequate control” of their use and weaknesses were detected in the controls of the nominative use of the passes by their holders.

The supervisory institution concludes that train users perceived an improvement in the quality/price ratio of trips, along with a worsening in the quality of services.

182,000 MORE DAILY TRIPS

In this same report, the Court of Auditors highlights that thanks to the measure on Cercanías trains there was a significant average increase of 182,218 daily trips during the audited period, which allowed pre-pandemic levels to be recovered in December 2023.

In the case of the Media Disntacia and Avant trains, the increase was very significant at 36,507 and 5,876 daily trips, respectively, with these services “widely” exceeding pre-pandemic travel levels.