Sul treno con ritardi, sporcizia e ruggine

TESTATA: Corriere della Sera
DATA: 21/07/2009
AUTORE: Corriere della Sera

Un controllore a bordo: «È una vergogna far viaggiare la gente in queste condizioni»

MILANO- Ritardi, sporcizia e la ruggine di vecchie carrozze. Sulla Freccia Salentina puntuali sono solo i disagi. Come tanti treni a lunga percorrenza il Milano – Lecce delle 9 di sera è un calvario quotidiano per i viaggiatori. Alcune carrozze vantano più di trent’anni di servizio. Ruggine e ossido sbucano dalle giunture, persino dai pannelli delle centraline elettriche. I sedili sono logori, sulla stoffa blu e grigia una mappa variegata di macchie e incrostazioni. A bordo rabbia e rassegnazione, compresa la nostra di cronisti, titolari di un biglietto e di una prenotazione in prima classe, in un vagone che non c’è.

DISAGI- «Succede molto spesso», spiega un utente abituale della tratta. «Le carrozze non corrispondono alle prenotazioni, è sempre un terno al lotto». Dai capotreni risposte secche, automatiche: «Non ci posso fare nulla, chiedete il rimborso». Intanto però il viaggio viene affrontato senza un posto, in una vettura declassata. Troviamo un ferroviere che si sfoga, con l’impegno che gli venga garantito l’anonimato: «L’azienda dovrebbe vergognarsi, far viaggiare la gente in queste condizioni è improponibile. C’è poca pulizia, i vagoni arrivano e ripartono in continuazione, la burocrazia e le lungaggini per i rimborsi sono ostacoli insormontabili». Arriviamo a Piacenza, a un’ora di viaggio, con già venti minuti di ritardo accumulati. Noi scendiamo insieme alle immagini per documentare la nostra testimonianza. La Freccia Salentina insieme al suo carico di viaggiatori prosegue verso Lecce, orario d’arrivo previsto le 8 e 30 del mattino.

Confessions of a high-speed junky

TESTATA: The Guardian
DATA: 23/06/2009
AUTORE: Giles Tremlett

Like many Spaniards, Giles Tremlett is hooked on the country's high-speed AVE trains. He hops on the latest route, and hurtles from one end of the country to the other.

The snow-capped foothills of the Pyrenees are in the far distance, framed by my picture window against a foreground of olive trees and open countryside. The menu in my hand, as I settle down with a glass of fino sherry in a wide, comfy seat, promises green salad with cured duck breast, mango and poppy seeds. A set of small, green digital figures above the compartment door mark 301km/h (187m/h).

I am travelling Club Class in one of Spain's high-speed AVE trains, in a style that Monocle Magazine recently referred to as "the best first class rail development" of the year.

I'm bound for various interesting work assignments, but I'm most excited about trying the latest offering from the growing AVE network - a direct service from Seville to Barcelona in five and a half hours. That's a 516 mile, as-the-crow-flies trip - roughly the same as, say, London to Aberdeen. I have booked ahead, so my hours of pampering on this stretch of the trip cost a modest €96.

After 18 years hopping from one Spanish airport to another I am now a self-confessed AVE addict. The hassle of crowded, out-of-town airports like Barcelona or Madrid becomes more nightmarish as the ease of getting on a train increases. The AVE has put the pleasure back into travel. It can now take me from Madrid to a dozen of Spain's main - and not so main - cities at speeds that top 300km/h. Train trips to Cordoba, Valladolid, Segovia, Toledo, Girona, Tarragona and Zaragoza now take much less time than by air. I have even been to tiny Huesca - a short hop from some of Spain's best ski slopes - in under two and half hours. The airplane still wins (though only just) in both time and price on trips to Barcelona, Seville and Malaga, but that is easily made up for by the gain in comfort and ease. Spaniards have voted with their wheely-bags. They are flocking back to railway stations.

Watching the Spanish countryside speed past like a never-ending roll of film, I occasionally see the old (meaning last year's) railway lines snaking their way around rocky outcrops and hills. My AVE is flying in a straight line, bludgeoning its way through tunnels and cuttings. Spain has been unabashed about the way it has rolled out these lines. Most cut straight through open countryside, giving you an unusual tour through some of the more remote bits of Spain.

There are tantalising views. Villages, castles, hillside chapels and cortijo farmhouses speed into sight, spark the imagination, and then rush out of view just as quickly. They are the sort of places that I would never see had the engineers not decided to put the tracks here. I have even come to recognise some of the landmarks along the lines from Madrid to Seville (the first route, which opened 17 years ago) and to Barcelona (just over a year old); an abandoned seminary here; a tiny village tucked into a valley there; or, even, the almond groves that blossom pinky-white in Tarragona in March.

The network is still really in its infancy. Another 9,000 kilometres are to be laid in a decade, with links into Portugal and France. It will be Europe's biggest high-speed network, putting 90% of Spaniards within 30 miles of a station.

I am not the only one to be impressed. Barack Obama's transport secretary, Ray LaHood, was on one of the AVEs the other day - no doubt wondering how he could get them going across the USA.

He was in Club, like me, but I'm guessing he didn't need to book ahead in order to bag a discounted fare. Then again, although I'm a sucker for the pampering, it doesn't really matter where you sit to get the best bits - you get the same views in the cheap seats, and at half the price.

Papá, ven en tren

TESTATA: El Periódico
DATA: 08/07/2009
AUTORE: Juli Capella

Papá, mamá, hijos, amiguetes: venid en tren. Porque no traquetea tanto y empieza a ser más puntual, el AVE y el Euromed. Venid en tren porque es más probable que lleguéis a casa sanos y salvos que yendo en coche. Además, podréis disfrutar leyendo el periódico. O paseando arriba y abajo zampándoos el bocata. O bien mirando el paisaje por los amplios ventanales, aunque sea para comprobar la avaricia edilicia de la última década. También es posible que os ofrezcan ver una peli y os enchufen unos auriculares chungos, pero no es obligatorio usarlos. Podréis descansar un rato, ir al vagón bar o, incluso, echar una cabezadita, siempre que los vecinos no sean moviladictos. Iréis del centro al centro de la población gozando de mayor bienestar, a no ser que se desmadren con el aire acondicionado. Pero sin caravanas, sin agobios ni pitidos. No hará falta llevar pasaporte ni quitarse el cinturón al embarcar. Y las damas podrán llevar cuantos líquidos, cremas y demás potingues se les antoje.

Viniendo en tren habrás destrozado menos el territorio; en proporción usarás una décima parte de lo que ocupa el coche. E incidirás infinitamente menos en lo que a desaguisados estéticos se refiere. Viniendo en tren, contaminarás menos por el camino, pero ojo, la generación de electricidad ensucia en origen.

Mientras no exista la teletransportación, el tren seguirá siendo uno de los medios más efectivos para desplazarse. Por eso Renfe debería mejorar el servicio de Cercanías, todavía muy precario. Ir en tren debería ser más barato y potenciarse con nuevas vías y estaciones por todo el país. Sin que obligatoriamente pasen por Madrid, ni siquiera por Barcelona.