Óscar Puente expresses the interest of Spanish companies in taking part in the future of the UK railways

The Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, with his UK counterpart, Heidi Alexander

The Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, met in London with the UK Minister for Transport, Heidi Alexander, with whom he discussed matters of interest in the field of transport and mobility, including the future of the British rail network and the importance of making progress in decarbonisation.

"Bilateral relations between the UK and Spain in the field of transport are excellent and I hope that our collaboration will continue to be as fluid as it has been so far to achieve sustainable mobility and strengthen connectivity," said the Spanish Transport Minister.

"It is a pleasure to welcome Minister Óscar Puente today to discuss our shared transport goals, including decarbonisation, more integrated networks, better bus services and more rail freight," said Minister Heidi Alexander.

During the meeting, the minister applauded the British government's decision to renationalise the railways and commit to improving and extending the railway network, expressing his interest in learning more about the approved reform. In this context, Óscar Puente shared with his British counterpart the keys to the internationally recognised Spanish model.

"I welcome the British government's decision to renationalise the railways through Great British Railways. Rail is the backbone of a sustainable, accessible, safe and efficient transport system, and it is crucial that it has the full force and involvement of the state. The Spanish railway model is a benchmark, made up of public and private companies with wide experience in operation, management, design and construction. It is this experience and leadership in the reorganisation and development of railway systems and the operation of all types of trains that we want to share with the UK to help strengthen its rail transport and make progress in decarbonisation", said Minister Óscar Puente.

He thereby took advantage of the meeting to highlight the great experience and knowledge of those involved in our railway industry, and to convey Spanish companies' interest in exporting the Spanish model, of proven efficiency and competitiveness, and in continuing to take part in the UK infrastructure projects, especially the high-speed one.

In this regard, the UK Transport Minister highlighted "the importance of skills transfer between our two countries, with Spanish engineers helping to support key infrastructure projects here in the UK", expressing her desire to "continue our joint work and deepen the ties between the UK and Spain".

The UK government has announced an improvement plan to adapt its railways to climate change and the risk of extreme weather events, and has a project underway to build a high-speed line between London and Birmingham (known as the HS2, the most important project to date for this business sector). Spanish companies, including the public companies Ineco, Renfe and Adif, are already taking part in projects to strengthen the train system, and are seeking to deepen their presence, taking advantage of their potential and knowledge in management, operation, construction and engineering.

Aviation and decarbonisation

Within the framework of the UK's infrastructure development, Minister Óscar Puente also showed interest in the airport sector, a very active and attractive market for Spanish companies. Aena, for example, has had a positive experience at Luton Airport, and is working on a plan to expand capacity there.

Air transport between the two countries is essential to maintain connectivity and trade relations. In this regard, in addition to improving infrastructures, the minister also stressed the need to guarantee sustainable air connectivity and to continue promoting collaboration to boost the use of sustainable alternative fuels for aviation (SAF).

In this context, the minister underlined that Spain has the potential to produce 73.8 million tonnes of PBS, making it a production centre with the appropriate plans and measures, and expressed his interest in learning more about the UK's plans for the development of PBS, including the investment incentive programmes. Spain and the UK are both pioneers of the use of PAS as the clearest short-term way to decarbonise air transport and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in promoting their use.

The minister also expressed his willingness to promote the establishment of green maritime corridors between the UK and Spain to accelerate the decarbonisation of maritime transport. He assured that work is being done to promote the financing of this initiative, in which the port authorities of Algeciras, Cadiz and Huelva have already shown interest, proposing that the teams of the two administrations stay in close contact to put into practice the possibility of establishing the green corridors.

Non official translation