Responding to the European instruction to remove the discount for residents, the president of Ferrocarril de Soller, Oscar Mayol, said that rates were ones approved and posted on the Official Bulletin in the Balearics and that the company is now looking at adopting a usage incentive scheme like that of the SFM rail operator and Palma's EMT bus service.
Service on the Palma-Soller line restarted yesterday after three months of suspension because of maintenance work. Mayol took the occasion of the first train leaving Palma in the morning to report on last year's performance and plans for 2017. He said that more than 1.5 million tickets were sold in 2016, pointing out that 95.4% were sold to non-residents. In the case of the tram, the percentage was slightly lower - 91.2%.
He explained that forecasts for 2017 are good but that there has to be caution because "every day it gets more difficult to attract tourists". During the year, information panels are to be installed in stations and there will also be an application for mobiles. The 100-strong workforce is being maintained and will be increased in summer depending on demand, as will frequency of service on both the train and the tram.
5 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
I am amused that Holidaymaker below refused to use the Soller train/tram, not because of the actual price but because of the price differential between locals and tourists. The price for tourists IS high and can be prohibitive for families. But to state you won't use the Soller train because you would be subsidising locals is cutting off your nose to spite your face.How about: the high prices for tourists are subsidising the life style of the family which owns the train company? How about: I'm here on holiday and even though it IS expensive I want to enjoy myself so I'll take the train trip just once for the experience?I think your resentment towards locals is sad and misplaced
I have a bar and we recommend the trip on the train to lots of tourists.Although we get discount it can still be an expensive day out as we usually treat our Family when they come over.So for us to pay full fare we won't be rushing to go there or recommend it to others.It is normal for people to get discount on certain things where they live.I think it will do damage to this company.
I don't have a problem with residents getting a discount. The average tourist would only use the train/tram once anyway. Just for the experience. In Sóller it would be cheaper to get a cab from the Stn to the port if there's more than one of you anyway.
So as long as it's only 91.2% of tourists being ripped of,that's alright then.?
A couple of years ago we went to travel on the soller train and after looking at the ticket prices decided not to go due to the vast difference in price to a tourist and a resident. It wasn't the price of the ticket it was the difference in the price. it was a case of tourists subsidizing residents. It also happens on the buses but not as bad as the soller train .