Last month, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a wide range of policies to tackle the rapid inflation in the country which has now surpassed 10 per cent. His announcement of free rail travel is one of the most innovative, and potentially most impactful.
The scheme will provide free tickets for rail travel between September 1 and December 31 of this year. It is intended to cushion the effects of the cost-of living crisis on Spanish citizens, especially those who rely heavily on public transport to get to work.
The policy will also allow for a 30% discount on all other forms public transport, such as buses, metros, and trams.
The windfall tax on energy companies will pay a large portion of the cost of the scheme.
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The UK is facing a cost-of-living crisis. We need to find innovative solutions to keep costs down. High petrol prices have forced social workers to leave their jobs in Wales. As they are, our overpriced train services and patchy bus service offer little in the way of alternatives.
We know that while lower-income families rely more on public transport in Wales, it is also clear that the cost-of living crisis is affecting lower-income families. If Welsh Labour implemented a policy similar in Spain to Wales, it would greatly help those who are experiencing hardship.
As winter draws near, a free transport program could be implemented during the next few weeks to help families in times when rising energy costs are most severe.
The policy will not only help working families deal with the cost of living crisis but also tackle climate change, reduce pollution, and reduce congestion. It could even encourage people to adopt positive habits and switch to public transport in the long-term.
Transport is currently one of Wales’ largest polluters and air pollution is at deadly levels in many cities, costing the Welsh NHS around £1 billion each year.
In Germany, a similar scheme to the one in Spain where all rail tickets were discounted to €9 for a limited time, resulted in a decreased level of congestion in 23 of the 26 cities examined.
The scheme has been so popular that large parts of the public, as well as think tanks and climate campaigners, are encouraging the German government to continue it through winter.
Such a scheme in Wales, or indeed any other part of the UK could play a vital role in restoring ridership to our country’s trains and buses. Between 2009 and 2019 (pre-pandemic) there was a 22 per cent decline in the number of journeys by buses in Wales and Wales continues to have the highest proportion of people travelling to work by car in the UK (estimated at approximately 75- 80 per cent).
An increase in ridership could be used by the Government to argue for higher levels of investment in our public transport system. But, it could also be used to entice private sector investors in new routes and modernization.
But the benefits of free rail travel and discounted bus travel wouldn’t just be limited to tackling the cost-of-living crisis and fighting climate change. This scheme can also be used to increase social mobility. By giving people access to free or discounted public transport, people would no longer face barriers to accessing key public services, getting the job they want, or chasing the opportunities they deserve.
Although most of the power to address the cost-of living crisis are held in Westminster, Welsh Labour could implement the Senedd by introducing free and discounted transport. Both myself and the Welsh Liberal Democrats plan to continue our campaign to get the Welsh Labour Government to take radical action to tackle this crisis head on.
