Transport is studying going to the CNMC for the "unfair" practices of Ouigo, which believes it will have to raise prices

MADRID, 1 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, stated this Monday that he is studying different formulas, including going to the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), due to the "deeply unfair" practices of the French company Ouigo in the high-speed corridors where it operates and in which it competes with other operators, such as Renfe and Iryo.

Puente, in statements to Onda Cero reported by Europa Press, has denounced that Ouigo's low prices, selling tickets "well below cost from the beginning, have dragged" Iryo and Renfe "to very bad results in corridors that were highly profitable.

"Railway liberalization has brought positive things, it has obviously increased supply, it has reduced prices, but it has reduced them to a level that is unsustainable for the three competitors. The competition has to be fair and has to allow the three companies make profits or, at the very least, do not make losses," argued Puente.

Thus, and given Ouigo's annual losses of close to 40 million euros, Puente believes that "unfailingly" the French company will have to raise prices. "Unless the French operator is prepared to lose money on the ten years they currently have a committed presence in the most profitable high-speed corridors in Spain, they will have to raise prices. There is no other solution," the minister stressed.

Asked what measures he will take to prevent Ouigo from continuing to commit what he described as "dumping", Puente pointed out that "the first thing he has done is make it public by land, sea and air and with all the intensity in the world."

The minister has also stated that he has also spoken with the French Government, because not only is this "unfair" competition taking place in Spain with Ouigo, but it is also being "tremendously complicated" for Renfe to enter France.

"There is no comparison in the conditions under which this operator (Ouigo) has entered Spain with those we have in France. What's more, the other day, with some confusion, someone representing the French company told us that we We do not enter France because we are going with Talgo material, which must be approved and so on. But we have been working in France for some time, and in fact we entered France with French material, with the first Alstoms that we use on the Madrid-Madrid line. Seville. But they forced us to re-homologize them. All the difficulties in the world. Therefore, these are conditions in which there really is no type of reciprocity," he denounced.

The minister has defended that, in the face of Ouigo's "deeply unfair" practices, "what formulas to use" is being studied and even going to the CNMC.

"My duty as minister of this country is to protect Renfe, because by protecting Renfe I am protecting rail transport in our country. That is the reason why a public transport company is necessary," Puente pointed out.

The minister recalled that Renfe is the company that provides service in the corridors where not everyone wants to enter. "There is a lot of talk about the train to Extremadura, the train to Galicia, you will not see these companies enter there, because that is not profitable. The one that provides service in those corridors is Renfe," he stressed.