Podemos and Izquierda Unida en Castro have denounced to the Ministry of Transport the non-inclusion of the Castro-Bilbao bus line in the discounts promoted by the central government, with a 50% reduction in the price of the ticket.
After the entry into force of this discount on the price of the Castrobus, these two political formations claim “to have received a large number of complaints about the route to Bilbao, which is not being subsidized, so, despite not being municipal competence, We began to find out what was happening. Incomprehensibly, this line is not among the 42 that include the reduction, and although we are trying to find out the reason, we still have no official response.
Pablo Villasante, local IU spokesman, details that “the rebates are aimed at companies that operate this type of state-owned bus routes throughout the Spanish geography and that had multi-trip passes and tickets before the entry into force of the measure. This is the case of IRB, a company that manages the service and that has both a wallet card and a travel card. The door is also opened to extend its use for another month, until January 31, 2023.”
“The good news is that it seems that we still have time for this route to be included in the discounts, that is how they transferred us after contacting the ministry’s own service. Now it’s up to the citizens and the City Council to put pressure to achieve it, ”says Alberto Martínez, councilor of the purple formation.
Both parties assure that “this route is not among the 42 intercity routes to which the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda lowers the price by 50%”. “We are going to register a letter to the mayor to deal with this matter as quickly as possible so that the castreños have the discount as soon as possible.”
To do this, both formations are going to try to get the City Council to officially request the inclusion of these lines in the framework of the National Response Plan to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine and in turn encourage citizens to make their complaints to the Ministry either by phone (915 978 787) or email [email protected].
IU and Podemos are concerned about “the loss of quality of this essential service for Castro citizens. The non-inclusion in the discounts is one more offense in a long list of causes that are leading to a well-valued transport in the past, to be a serious problem. The discomfort among users is evident and is growing unchecked, due to the reduction in frequencies since the pandemic that incomprehensibly continues without being restored, with the continued price escalation, with unjustified daily delays and vehicle breakdowns.
