Just as if it were one of those mortgaged drowned by the rise in the Euribor in 2023, the accounts of the Madrid Metro in that year were hit by the whip of the index until it caused an unexpected diversion of five million euros through several rental contracts. of trains linked to the indicator, which started the year at 3.337% and rose to 4.160%.
But it was not the only problem of the largest public company in the region next to the Canal de Isabel II, according to an announcement published in the official bulletin of the community.
As PP and Vox did not agree to approve Budgets for that year, those for 2022 had to be extended, which ended up forcing the Regional Consortium of Regular Public Transport (CRTM) to face exceptional expenses of 67 million euros.
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“The expenses are explained because the 2023 budgets of the Community of Madrid were not approved, so during this year the 2022 budgets governed, the preparation of which takes place in July 2021,” explains a company spokesperson.
“For this reason, the remuneration increases approved in the General State Budgets of public personnel for 2023, the extraordinary increases in energy prices, which began in October 2021, when the budgets were already approved, could not be contemplated on that date. (and which would govern during 2022 and 2023), as well as the increase in rental costs that occur every year, which affected the rental costs of the trains.”
These were the main problems for the public company's accounts.
Leased trains with the rent triggered by the Euribor and the CPI: 10.6 million
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Bread for today and hunger for tomorrow.
That is the formula that Madrid Metro managers have been applying to expand their train fleet for more than 20 years: instead of acquiring new carriages, managers signed a handful of rental agreements with an option to purchase.
Thus, at the end of 2021, this public company did not own 59% of the wagons that circulated on its tracks, and was paying millions in amounts to use them.
The leasing contracts for rolling stock with the companies Ferromóvil 3000, Ferromóvil 9000 and Plan Metro contemplate an annual price review clause referenced to the Euribor value of that year.
The “extraordinary rebound” of that index, the company describes, triggered the bill in 2023, when it represented an extra cost of 4,813,050 euros.
It wasn't the only problem.
“The increase in the CPI, well above the historical series, of the maintenance contracts for this same rolling stock represents an extra cost of 5,806,446 euros,” the company details, for a total of 10.6 million for these two games.
A skyrocketing energy bill: 27.6 million
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When operating with the 2022 public accounts, Metro had almost 60 million for electricity.
However, on December 28, it expected to close with an expense of 80.5, generating a deficit of 27.6.
It is not the suburban's first problem with electricity costs.
In 2022 it already had to remove 10% of its trains from the tracks to face this bill, which skyrocketed as a result of linking its contract to the daily market and not to a fixed rate.
As a consequence, in January 2023 the Community of Madrid already had to rescue the company with 114 million euros.
Personnel costs: 28 million.
As a consequence of the budget extension, the amounts foreseen in the 2022 accounts do not include the increases in personnel costs since January of that year.
The estimated amount at the end of the year for these concepts is 453,409,162 euros, so the extra cost with respect to the 2022 budget extended to 2023 is 28,783,157 euros.
The problems in the 2023 accounts were already known at the end of last year, when the Community of Madrid approved a Budget of almost 1,000 million for the company by giving the green light to an addendum to the agreement that unites it with the CRTM: the amount for Covering the services of 2024 is estimated at around 987 million euros.
Of these, 572.8 come from the budget endorsed by the Government Council.
The remaining 414.2 will be financed by collecting fees from network users, through monthly passes, single tickets and other travel tickets.
In the background, a key mega-operation for the future of this public transport: Metro has signed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Official Credit Institute (ICO) loans worth 820 million to finance the acquisition of the 80 new trains that will cost more than 1,000 million, and whose delivery is scheduled for 2026.
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