Page 11 - Anuario FFCC - 2024

presentación

house gases and improving air quality. And this contribution
to decarbonisation is the focus of the current energy diver-
sification and the technological development of the rail in-
dustry.
The spectacular progress in railway infrastruc-
ture, the liberalisation that favours competition and the
modal change are allowing society to move efficiently and
safely, which is confirmed by the social trend of migration
towards more sustainable modes of transport, especially
rail, with commuter trains, urban systems and high-speed
at the forefront; this is also generating an induced de-
mand that favours the efficiency of the transport system
as a whole.
With regard to rail freight transport, which has his-
torically lagged behind passenger transport, it is necessary
to promote intermodality, promoting collaboration between
modes to facilitate their rational integration, the operation of
economically and environmentally efficient logistics chains,
and the creation of accessible platforms that connect pro-
José Ramón Sempere Vera duction and consumption areas.
Director Gerente de Apart from its obvious environmental benefits and
la Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles territorial structuring, this increase in freight transport will be
a factor in boosting the productive sectors, a lever for the
reindustrialisation of the different regions and for attracting
investment to the mobility value chain.
In this context, rail transport also faces the challen-
ge of identifying new labour and training needs, in design,
planning, engineering, operation and maintenance, distribu-
tion networks, construction, and all the services associated
with these activity segments.
The transition to sustainable mobility is also requi-
ring a continuous effort of research into technologies and
innovation in products that reduce the impact of transport
activity and improve energy efficiency, and, once again, rail
transport is at the forefront.
The work of the Spanish Railways Foundation is
resulting in new habits of decarbonized, connected and safe focused on disseminating, favouring and promoting these
mobility, with people themselves at the centre as beneficia- challenges of rail transport and the advances that are being
ries of a multimodal mobility system. obtained, which, in parallel, preserves and makes accessible
This Railway Yearbook, which has been published the historical and cultural memory of the railway in order to,
for the last twenty-nine years by Vía Libre - Fundación de los with all its work, contribute to a better future.
Ferrocarriles Españoles, offers a complete picture of the sce- Once again, this Railway Yearbook offers informa-
nario in which this challenge of sustainable mobility is taking tion on the state of rail transport in the broadest sense – ad-
place in Spain, with the focus on rail transport, the basis of ministrations, institutions and companies – and it thereby
future transport. aims to contribute to improving knowledge of the railway in
No one doubts that rail transport is the central ins- society as a whole and to help railway professionals in their
trument to meet the climate objectives of reducing green- decision-making.

Spanish Railway Yearbook 2024 Anuario del Ferrocarril 9