El 7 Set in english by Brenda Cundell
Alcala-Alcossebre Council is subsidising 50% of the train ticket price for students
As proposed by Compromis there is also to be a subsidy of 50% for the bus for residents in the coastal nuclei and the PSOE are asking for it to be increased to 100%
![[Img #74612]](http://el7set.es/upload/images/08_2019/2094_1811_7551_tren.jpg)
The Alcala-Alcossebre Council meeting unanimously approved a new bylaw which gives assistance of a 50% subsidy for local students who travel by train to take a college course in other towns. The measure is being adopted as, after the increase in trains and the opening of the station, rail communication in the locality has improved notably since last year.
Mayor Francisco Juan said that “since November 2018 the frequency of trains which stop at our station has increased, improving communication both with Castellón and Valencia as with the northern area of the region. Also, thanks to the step taken by the Council with Adif, the station which has been closed since 2001 has re-opened and this means that users can get tickets in the station and make use of the waiting room and the toilets. We have also succeeded in making the station building completely accessible and Adif is completing the lift installation. We believe that this will boost use of the train as an alternative to the car and students are one of the groups who use this transport”.
Students of all ages can benefit from this assistance who are registered students at an official centre which authorises a title with professional or academic validity and which is unobtainable in the municipality. The price of the contracted ticket will be subsidised by 50%, whether it is a monthly ticket or a ticket for 10 journeys.
For his part, Mayor Francisco Juan urged all the municipal groups to “join together to ask the central Government to reduce the price of the train tickets as there are no Local Trains (Cercanias) and this makes the tickets dearer”.
Proposal from Compromis to add the assistance to bus fares
Alcala Compromis succeeded in extending the municipal transport assistance for young people who take regulated courses outside the town and this includes the bus fares which connect the train station with the coastal nuclei. Compromis councillor, María Sorlí, explained that “the measure put forward by the governing group completely forgot the youth of Capicorb, Alcossebre and Las Fuentes because it only included the 50% reduction for the train ticket”. Therefore, the coalition presented an improved proposal to the meeting which received the support of the whole corporation and thanks to this, bus fares will also be subsidised by 50% for the student population which uses the Alcala-Alcossebre connection.
Sorlí added that “although we have taken the first step, assistance for young people should be 100% if we wish to have equality with independence from the place of residence”.
Sorlí reminded the meeting that “thanks to the Compromis parliamentary group in Madrid approving the extension of the regional trains timetable”, but that “if we do not support the subsidising of the transport in full, these measures will have been worth nothing” she noted. According to the spokesperson, “we must guarantee the right of the town’s young people to be able to return to the town and to live in the family home during their time as students”. Compromis also alleged that the three months wait for the resolution of the assistance is “too long” because “the student population will not know whether they can count on the assistance until once they have started the course”.
Support from the PSOE for the assistance proposal
The socialist spokesperson, Joan Ronchera, appreciated the PP’s amendment, “when it had rejected the socialist proposal on three occasions to drive for a subsidised transport ticket”, but insisted that the measure is “insufficient” and asked that it should be extended to more users and to the bus fare.
Ronchera said that “this change in position by the popular party is welcomed” and encouraged Francisco Juan Mars’ Government to continue “advancing measures which boost the use of public transport”. For this reason, the Municipal Socialist Group urged the local Executive to extend the assistance “so that it is available to more users and can also be applied to other transport methods, like the bus”.
On this subject, the socialist spokesperson explained that the approved assistance is aimed exclusively at students “because it does not cover a large number of users who, for work or health service reasons, use public transport, be it train or bus”. Therefore, the PSPV urges them to extend the assistance to this type of user and to include the subsidies for other means of transport such as the bus.
The socialist councillor said that he was surprised by reference to a supposed public enquiry among potential users. “The reality is that this announcement was linked in a section on the head office electronic system but was not circulated and, therefore, no-one took part. It seems like a regrettable fact and even more so when the mayor in this legislature has created a citizen participation delegation”. Ronchera urged the PP to “take participation seriously”.
The Alcala-Alcossebre Council meeting unanimously approved a new bylaw which gives assistance of a 50% subsidy for local students who travel by train to take a college course in other towns. The measure is being adopted as, after the increase in trains and the opening of the station, rail communication in the locality has improved notably since last year.
Mayor Francisco Juan said that “since November 2018 the frequency of trains which stop at our station has increased, improving communication both with Castellón and Valencia as with the northern area of the region. Also, thanks to the step taken by the Council with Adif, the station which has been closed since 2001 has re-opened and this means that users can get tickets in the station and make use of the waiting room and the toilets. We have also succeeded in making the station building completely accessible and Adif is completing the lift installation. We believe that this will boost use of the train as an alternative to the car and students are one of the groups who use this transport”.
Students of all ages can benefit from this assistance who are registered students at an official centre which authorises a title with professional or academic validity and which is unobtainable in the municipality. The price of the contracted ticket will be subsidised by 50%, whether it is a monthly ticket or a ticket for 10 journeys.
For his part, Mayor Francisco Juan urged all the municipal groups to “join together to ask the central Government to reduce the price of the train tickets as there are no Local Trains (Cercanias) and this makes the tickets dearer”.
Proposal from Compromis to add the assistance to bus fares
Alcala Compromis succeeded in extending the municipal transport assistance for young people who take regulated courses outside the town and this includes the bus fares which connect the train station with the coastal nuclei. Compromis councillor, María Sorlí, explained that “the measure put forward by the governing group completely forgot the youth of Capicorb, Alcossebre and Las Fuentes because it only included the 50% reduction for the train ticket”. Therefore, the coalition presented an improved proposal to the meeting which received the support of the whole corporation and thanks to this, bus fares will also be subsidised by 50% for the student population which uses the Alcala-Alcossebre connection.
Sorlí added that “although we have taken the first step, assistance for young people should be 100% if we wish to have equality with independence from the place of residence”.
Sorlí reminded the meeting that “thanks to the Compromis parliamentary group in Madrid approving the extension of the regional trains timetable”, but that “if we do not support the subsidising of the transport in full, these measures will have been worth nothing” she noted. According to the spokesperson, “we must guarantee the right of the town’s young people to be able to return to the town and to live in the family home during their time as students”. Compromis also alleged that the three months wait for the resolution of the assistance is “too long” because “the student population will not know whether they can count on the assistance until once they have started the course”.
Support from the PSOE for the assistance proposal
The socialist spokesperson, Joan Ronchera, appreciated the PP’s amendment, “when it had rejected the socialist proposal on three occasions to drive for a subsidised transport ticket”, but insisted that the measure is “insufficient” and asked that it should be extended to more users and to the bus fare.
Ronchera said that “this change in position by the popular party is welcomed” and encouraged Francisco Juan Mars’ Government to continue “advancing measures which boost the use of public transport”. For this reason, the Municipal Socialist Group urged the local Executive to extend the assistance “so that it is available to more users and can also be applied to other transport methods, like the bus”.
On this subject, the socialist spokesperson explained that the approved assistance is aimed exclusively at students “because it does not cover a large number of users who, for work or health service reasons, use public transport, be it train or bus”. Therefore, the PSPV urges them to extend the assistance to this type of user and to include the subsidies for other means of transport such as the bus.
The socialist councillor said that he was surprised by reference to a supposed public enquiry among potential users. “The reality is that this announcement was linked in a section on the head office electronic system but was not circulated and, therefore, no-one took part. It seems like a regrettable fact and even more so when the mayor in this legislature has created a citizen participation delegation”. Ronchera urged the PP to “take participation seriously”.
