| Seville, Spain. September, 98 |
| The Spanish High Speed Train receives the European Quality Award | |
| The bussiness unit of the Spanish High Speed Train has received one of the annual prizes from the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). The award shows the recognition of the Spanish High Speed Service as one of the best public services in Europe. Mr. Miguel Corsini, president of the Spanish Rail Service received in Paris the award on the 22nd of October. It is the first time in the history of these awards that a public enterprise has received one. Cumbernauld´s Inland Revenue office, in Scotland also gained an award. |
| The Communication and External Relations Division of the Spanish Rail Network spoke about the evolution of the High Speed Service. From the opening of the line in 1992, the duration of the journey between Madrid and Seville has been cut down by twenty minutes making a total of two hours and twenty minutes average. This has been achieved thanks to the reduction of the number of stops on most trains and the increase in average speed from 250 to 270 Km./hour. |
| In addition, the number of services has been increased. Nowadays there are fifteen services daily back and forth, twice the original number in 1992. The average fare has also been reduced thanks to the elimination of the peak time fare. The High Speed Service has achieved a great deal in a short time. In the last year it has made substantial profits once the initial investment was covered. The balance for the first half year has been of around eight million pounds. |
| The process of quality management implementation began with the creation of the Quality Departement in 1991 which resulted in an increase in punctuality. From September 1994, the fare is reimbursed if the train is over five minutes late. In this period, 55.420 trains circulated through the high speed line of which 144 were delayed. |
| The Spanish High Speed Service has competed for the European Foundation for Quality Management in the last two years. After a thorough evaluation, a series of proposals were formulated which were later taken as objectives. The result has been the achievement of the most important award in Europe concerning quality while competing closely with other enterprises. |
| Spanish Rail Service | Spanish High Speed Service |
| European Foundation for Quality Management | High Speed Ticket Service |
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