The Spanish Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has qualified his words about transforming Renfe into an Aena.
Although on 9 January he stated that the Ministry is considering “the challenge of turning Renfe into Aena in the not too distant future“, Puente acknowledged yesterday on his visit to London that these statements were “a little crude” and should be taken “with great caution”.
Apart from the great difference between the two companies (Aena is an infrastructure manager, and Renfe is an operator), the Minister does not plan to privatise part of its capital during his mandate, beyond the partnership with Medlog for Renfe Mercancías.
According to Expansión, what the minister is looking for in Renfe is to be “endowed with the efficiency that Aena is demonstrating in its sector: a profitable company, with very good quality and customer service indexes”.
Renfe’s efficiency is precisely one of the points that many of its workers question. Train drivers and other employees regularly complain that the operator suffers the worst of a public company because “the salary is assured regardless of the work done”.
On Renfe’s IPO, the minister says it is something that could happen in the long term if they are “able to do so well”.