For a complete and immediate transfer of the commuter rail service

The crisis that has brought the entire commuter rail network to a standstill wasn't caused by the Gelida accident, nor by the recent bad weather. Those were merely the final straw. The current situation is a perfect storm that had been brewing for years, fueled by decades of chronic underinvestment and inadequate maintenance. The saddest aspect of the current crisis is that it could very likely have been avoided, at least in its entirety, if the Spanish government, Renfe, and Adif had acted appropriately. The open animosity between Renfe and Adif, which inevitably leads to a lack of coordination between the two entities, and the deliberately low profile of the Spanish government, which has remained on the sidelines and thus avoided the fallout from the scandal and its share of responsibility, make it much harder to resolve the crisis. The three entities responsible for allowing the commuter rail network to reach this point have demonstrated their lack of technical competence. And the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has neither assumed responsibility for his department nor transferred the necessary powers and resources to the Government. To the chronic lack of investment, the lack of political will to think long-term, and the technical incompetence of those who have led the network to its current crisis, we must add a communications strategy that once again demonstrates a lack of coordination. Adif and the Ministry of Transport have buried their heads in the sand until this Sunday, forcing the Regional Ministry of Territory and Commuter Rail to face the music alone, without adequate information or support from all those involved.

The result is that since Wednesday, train service on the commuter rail network has been suspended three times, although, incredibly, Renfe and Adif have ignored the Catalan government's decision to suspend service, which was made on Friday night. This is the level of disorganization, or the will to obstruct, that exists in railway management. Catalonia cannot afford such negligence, this chaos without order or protocols. And neither can Spain, if only because Catalonia alone represents 19.85% of the national GDP, according to figures from the INE (National Institute of Statistics) and Idescat (Catalan Institute of Statistics) for the third quarter of 2025. Halting the commuter rail network not only makes life more difficult for Catalans in general, it sabotages the economy and leaves the country in ruins. Those responsible for this situation are clear and have been identified: Renfe, Adif, and the Spanish government. They have demonstrated that they do not deserve the public's trust to manage the rail network and, therefore, should not be in charge of it. It is essential that the three entities transfer all responsibility for the management of the commuter rail network to the Catalan Government now—not in some hypothetical future, but immediately. But they must not only relinquish responsibility and management: they must also transfer all the necessary resources to resolve the current situation, make the required investments, and rectify the neglect they have allowed themselves to suffer for decades. Anything less would be a betrayal of the citizens of Catalonia.