Pimec demands separation of freight trains and commuter trains

BarcelonaThe latest rail crisis has put the spotlight on freight trains, which were also brought to a standstill as a result of theGelida commuter train accidentIn which a train driver died. Rail transport still has very little weight in Catalonia's productive sector, with the vast majority of goods moving by road. Currently, rail accounts for only 4% of freight in Catalonia, far below the European average of 17%, although some are already talking about saturation on the tracks. The recent blockade has highlighted the precariousness of this network, and this is where Pimec is calling for it to be made more resilient. To this end, the main measure the employers' association is requesting is to double the tracks in order to separate freight traffic from passenger traffic. Currently, both national and international freight transport runs on the same tracks as commuter, regional, and high-speed trains. "Goods and people cannot pass through the same infrastructure: they have very different needs," criticizes Ignasi Sayol, president of Pimec Logistics. A request that has found consensus among all the political groups with which the employers' association met this Friday, with the exception of the CUP and Aliança Catalana, which did not attend.

The employers' association for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has not quantified the investment needed to double the rail network. On a smaller scale, the "Freight Through the Interior" Platform has done so. This platform opposes freight trains using the current Tarragona line and demands they travel through the interior. It estimates the cost of restoring the disused rail line connecting Roda de Berà and Reus at around 750 million euros. They believe the works could take at least ten years. The separation of freight and passenger trains is one of the measures included in the rail pact that Pimec wants to promote. The organization, chaired by Antoni Cañete, has also called on political parties for comprehensive planning of the entire rail infrastructure, regardless of who manages it; monitoring of announced investments and projects, as well as all necessary maintenance; and local governance.

The platforms oppose the new commuter rail plan

User groups also strongly criticized the management of the commuter rail network this Friday, specifically the passenger rail service. These associations, particularly those representing commuters in southern Catalonia, have publicly denounced the latest update to the Catalan Commuter Rail Plan for 2026-2030, stating that it seriously "ignores" and "leaves without relevant action" the lines serving the Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre regions. "We note that the railway lines in the south of the country are once again being left out of investment and planning priorities," the groups stated. Dignity on the Tracks, Next Stop Valls, the Association of Friends of the Railway of Valls and Alt Camp, the Dignified Trains Platform in the Terres de l'Ebre, and the Public Transport Promotion Association (PTP) stated during the meeting with the Catalan Government and Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure manager) that they regret the model is "centralized in the Barcelona metropolitan area." Among the shortcomings identified, they highlighted that "no significant increase in capacity is planned for the southern regional lines, especially the single-track lines." They also stated that "there is no strategy" for Tarragona and that "no relevant actions are defined to improve the reliability of the R2 South, one of the corridors with the highest number of incidents in the system." They also point out that there is no "real development plan" for the RT1 and RT2 lines, nor any work planned for the stations on the R13, R14, and R15 lines to build overpasses or underpasses, or to extend platforms for long trains. They also regret that the quadrupling of tracks between El Prat and Castelldefels "is being postponed" until after 2030. Regarding the Garraf Tunnel—the next major project to be addressed this March—the platforms regret that the plan does not include a zero-speed section. Adif's current proposal, they explain, involves widening the existing tunnels, an action that "would entail a very long disruption to rail traffic." For the platforms, opting for a new tunnel (built on the inland side) would allow the work to be carried out without interrupting rail traffic and with minimal service disruption.