Until 31 December, frequent travellers will be able to save up to 246 euros

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The President of the Government, Francina Armengol, stressed that the discounts will directly benefit more than 356,000 public transport users in the Balearic Islands.

The President of the Government, Francina Armengol, today visited SFM’s Centralised Traffic Control Centre (CTC) and made the train journey between Inca and Palma to see first-hand how the first day of public transport discounts is working.

The discounts, promoted by the Spanish Government and complemented by the Government of the Balearic Islands and the different island councils, came into effect today and will remain in force until 31 December, meaning that regular users of the train, metro and bus will experience savings of up to 246 euros during this four-month period.

Armengol, who during the visit was accompanied by the Director General of Mobility and Land Transport, Jaume Mateu, and the manager of SFM, Mateu Capellà, stressed the importance of a measure that will make the train and metro free in Mallorca and the bus will not cost any user more than 20.7 euros a month.

In the rest of the islands, as the president pointed out, bus discounts start at 70% thanks to the increase in the subsidy agreed with the central government, which will be the highest in the whole of Spain.

This measure will directly benefit the economy of more than 356,000 people on the Islands, as well as being an important step towards more sustainable mobility in our territory.

Regarding the way in which this measure promoted by the State Government will have a direct impact on citizens’ pockets, for example, in Mallorca, a person who usually takes the longest bus journey (4 hops) will be able to save more than €200 over the next four months (€53 per month). A trained user making the longest journey (3 hops) will save €246 between September and December (€61.5/month).

This saving, in the case of young people, will be 159 € in the use of the bus for the four months (39.75 €/month) and 184 € in the case of the train (46 €/month).

The Government of the Balearic Islands, during these two legislatures, has made a commitment to improving public transport in Mallorca, with the electrification of the railway network and the modernisation of trains and bus fleets; with the increase of frequencies and new connections between municipalities (such as the Aerotib line), and with the implementation of a new fare system of progressive discounts, which makes people pay less the more they use the transport.

These improvements in the train, metro and bus services of the TIB network have resulted in a steady increase in the number of public transport users in Mallorca, with up to 25% more users in the first six months of this year. These figures are also reflected in the demand for new intermodal card holders.

Between January and August 2022, the Majorca Transport Consortium (CTM) issued 45,390 new cards, compared to 25,012 during the same period in 2019. This represents an increase of 75%.

With regard to these summer months, it should be noted that in July 2022, 7,071 new cards were issued, while in 2019 this month 4,377 were issued, with a percentage increase of 61.5%.

And this month of August 2022, 7,652 new cards have been issued, while in August 2019 there were 2,855 cards. This represents an increase of 108 %.

Centralised Traffic Control Centre (CTC)

With regard to the CTC, it should be noted that the traffic control team works in this centre, made up of an inspector and several managers, who are responsible for monitoring the state of rail traffic, controlling and regulating circulation, and are in constant communication with the rest of the staff (train drivers, inspectors, etc.), monitoring strict compliance with traffic regulations, as well as safety regulations, among other functions.

The CTC also houses the regulation centre for fixed and mobile installations, where all warnings or alarms about any incident are received and managed; the fare system and passenger information control post, from where ticket vending machines can be managed, as well as the access turnstiles, and from where information and assistance is offered to users via the intercoms of the machines and other existing warning points or by telephone.

The security surveillance centre, which monitors activity in the facilities and directs and coordinates the teams of security guards, is also located in the CTC.