The Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation laments and rejects this attack on rural citizens who are deprived of necessary services for their daily lives.
May 22, 2025
Castilla y León | Mobility and Digital Transformation Department
The Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation of the Junta de Castila y León, José Luis Sanz Merino, has expressed his total rejection of Renfe’s unilateral decision to eliminate stops in railway services in Castilla y León.
In a meeting with Renfe’s president, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, Sanz Merino lamented the harm it will cause to users who use the Galicia-Madrid connection, especially citizens of Sanabria, Segovia, and Medina del Campo starting from June 9. The regional government has urged RENFE not to eliminate these stops, emphasizing the maintenance of the early morning frequencies that connect Sanabria with Madrid, and in the opposite direction with Galicia, which will also no longer stop in Medina del Campo and Segovia.
Renfe’s announcement, which promised improvements in the Galicia-Madrid connection from June 9 with more seats, trains, and reduced travel times, entailed significant changes for Castilla y León. This is why Sanz Merino has requested from Fernández Heredia the need, first of all, «to have specific information about the changes affecting the Community» and, afterwards, to resume that «institutional collaboration» that has not existed when implementing these modifications despite requests for information for a week. «There has been a lack of prior dialogue on this reorganization, making a decision that affects mobility, territorial cohesion, and the fight against depopulation in Castilla y León.»
The Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation has lamented and informed Renfe’s president that «there has been confusion among citizens due to the lack of communication to the user and to the regional government.» In this way, he has requested that the detailed changes that Renfe intends to make starting from June 9 be sent in writing without a defined time horizon.
Sanz Merino has rejected the intention to reduce travel times between Madrid and Galicia by eliminating intermediate stops «purely for economic profitability, as claimed by the railway operator’s team.»
Increase in AVANT seats and trains
On another note, the Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation has also urged Renfe to increase the number of seats in AVANT services, as they are often unavailable. Hence, the increase in frequencies and seats has been requested to provide service to the citizens of Castilla y León who use these railway connections for work or studies and have their residence in the Community. «The situation on the Segovia-Valladolid-Madrid line is critical, as it is the most used corridor and tickets are sold out more than 15 days in advance due to Renfe’s inaction,» Sanz Merino pointed out.
The Junta de Castilla y León strongly supports subsidizing 25% of the cost of the pass on 23 railway routes, declared as OSP (Public Service Obligation), financing up to 204,658 passes in 2024, with an investment included in the agreement signed between the Junta de Castilla y León and Renfe close to 18 million euros.
More railway services
Additionally, the recovery of railway services has been requested, as well as the long-awaited fifth and sixth frequency with Salamanca that was promised in the past, and the adjustment of schedules in expeditions from Zamora to Madrid. Also, the arrival of narrow-gauge railway to the center of León and the improvement of its rolling stock.
Furthermore, Renfe has been informed of the need to maintain the commuter railway corridor between Palencia-Valladolid-Medina del Campo as definitive and its extension to Arévalo and Ávila, as well as the improvement of railway services on conventional lines such as Soria-Torralba, Ávila-Madrid, or Ávila-Medina del Campo-Valladolid, among others. But also the need for ‘AVE Shuttles’ for population centers such as Sanabria, Segovia, Burgos, or Medina del Campo and the permanent maintenance of the Soria-Calatayud shuttle to connect on the Madrid-Barcelona AVE.
The Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation has stated that the Junta de Castilla y León «will continue to work from institutional loyalty to request the improvement of railway connections in Castilla y León as an element of territorial cohesion and equity.»
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