18/09/2013 00:00
TW
0

Palma.—Reporting yesterday on the use of public metro systems in Spain over the past year, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) said yesterday that whilst passenger levels in Valencia, Bilbao and Barcelona have dropped by -7.4%, -3.2% and -1.4% respectively, numbers in Madrid, Seville and Palma have increased by 2.1%, 2% and 1 percent.

As part of the same report, the INE said that the number of passengers who chose to fly to other destinations in Spain - rather than driving or going by train - rose by 0.5 percent in July this year in comparison with the same month in 2010.

But train passenger numbers in July this year were seen to be 1.7 percent lower than they were in July 2010. The year-on-year drop in the number of passengers using surburban train systems was down by 2.4 percent but figures monitoring their use so far this year show that passenger volume has grown by 0.9 percent.

High speed choice
However, this is not the case with high speed trains, the “AVE,” where the number of of passengers - comparing July this year with the same month in 2010 - has grown by 6 percent.

The use of medium distance trains has grown by 3 percent during the same period.
Using the same year-on-year comparison between July this year and last, the use of public buses rose by 0.1 percent.
Public transport as a whole across the country was used by 399.6 million passengers in July this year, 1.8 percent less than the same month of the previous year. Accumulated average figures for the year to date do not vary from the same period last year.

Although figures show that passenger volumes on rails and ferries declined figures were up in air and bus transport .