The Popular Municipal Group of Gandia has expressed its concern about the operation of local public transport, especially at the beginning of the tourist season. A councilor from the group has criticized the lack of foresight and planning by the local government at a key moment for the city.
According to the popular group, last Friday there were significant crowds of users and tourists, who had to wait up to 50 minutes to access the service. This situation, according to the councilor, offers an image of disorganization that is not typical of a tourist city like Gandia.
“"An improper image for a tourist city like Gandia. We cannot allow visitors to take away this image of disorganization and lack of foresight."
Given this situation, the popular group demands that the local government push for the tender of public transport in Gandia, regularize its situation, and adopt urgent measures to guarantee the correct functioning of an essential service and prevent scenes like those experienced this weekend from recurring.
In response, a councilor from the local government has explained that, after contacting the company providing the service, the statements made by the Popular Party are questionable. The company detected an increase in ridership and service use last week, which caused some delays that, according to the contractor's information, did not reach the times the PP claims.
Furthermore, the concessionaire company is studying the implementation of a fifth vehicle to absorb the increase in demand and maintain service frequency. The municipal government continues to advance in the administrative process for the new public transport concession, with the aim of guaranteeing sustainable mobility in the city for the coming years.
In other public transport news, the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has informed the Gandia City Council that Adif has put out to tender the drafting of the project to improve accessibility, ventilation, and evacuation conditions at Gandia station. This action, valued at 658,179.5 euros, may be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The tendered contract, which is part of the Commuter Rail Plan of the Valencian Community, includes the analysis of new emergency exits to reduce evacuation routes, which will be designed along with corresponding fire protection and anti-intrusion systems. The implementation of a smoke extraction system on platforms, the compartmentalization of platforms, and the improvement of fire detection and extinguishing systems will also be studied.
