The mayor of Vélez-Málaga, Delgado Bonilla, is now warning of the ‘ruination’ of the tram system in Andalucia if the regional government does not come up with a ‘solution’ for their maintenance and viability.
The seemingly ill-conceived, poorly thought out Vélez-Málaga tram system began operating in 2006 and was suspended on June 4th 2012, with the Council owing over €2 million to the concessionaire.
A second phase of the tram, a 1.4 kilometre extension, was completed several years ago at a cost of around €8 million but never came into service.
The mayor has advocated the adoption of a law relating to rail services in Andalucia and supports the creation of a working group in the Andalucian Parliament “to analyze the situation of Andalusian tram systems and provide solutions to its viability.”
The cost of subsidising the tram system in Vélez-Málaga is beyond the means of the municipal coffers, of that there is no doubt. It is beyond the means of most municipalities.
During the boom years, the ‘years of plenty’, extravagant and often non-essential projects were being started all over the country – there are unfinished airport projects in several small towns, small municipalities with Olympian sports facilities, lavish new municipal offices all over the place etc etc.
Building licence revenue was abundant, and was subsequently spent, plus more in many cases. But the boom years are over and the chickens have come home to roost.
The Vélez-Málaga to Torre del Mar tram system – not a great distance – has suffered declining passenger numbers since day one, despite a relatively low ticket price for the consumer. That must tell us something, such as the tram doesn’t actually go where the people themselves want to go, i.e. it doesn’t serve the needs of the community.
Public transport systems are rarely, if ever, profitable enterprises, they are primarily to serve a public need and provide an essential service. If the ticket price is to be kept at a reasonably low level, essential to attract and maintain users, subsidisation is inevitable and any municipality ought to be assessing the depth of its pockets before undertaking any such enterprise.
There comes a time when some projects, and the tram system could be one of them, when the sensible solution is to hold one’s hands up and say, ‘bad idea, didn’t work’, and move on before any more taxpayer money is wasted.