"We didn't even consider taking the train because we had to arrive on time."

TarragonaThe Tarragona bus station has been much busier since the start of the bus season on October 1st. Adif's works in the Roda de Berà tunnelAlthough the bulk of the construction work has already been completed, or even though the train is free, many commuters don't even consider taking it. "We have to be on time," explains Marta López. She and her colleague, Àngels Herrero, are teachers at the San Pedro y San Pablo Institute in Tarragona, and this Tuesday they are to travel with eighteen third-year ESO students to Vila-seca, where the competition registration process takes place. Picaletras, which broadcasts TAC12, the public television station of Camp de Tarragona. "The truth is, we haven't even considered taking the train," adds Marta.

The bus that stopped next to us goes to Barcelona. "I like traveling by train much more, and it's much better because it drops me off in Sants, which is where I have to go, but I have to be on time because I have to go to work," explains Cristina. When the bus arrives in Barcelona, she'll still have to take another bus to get to Sants, but the train doesn't even occur to her. "My record is four hours to get from Tarragona to work in Barcelona," she says, resigned. Today she's traveling with Marina, who goes to Barcelona once a week and is also fed up with Renfe. "It's scary to take the train. Even if it arrives at the station on time, you know you won't get there on time wherever you're going," she laments.

Coach companies have reinforced their lines, aware that the poor rail performance offers them a business opportunity. "This is the fast line that goes to El Vendrell and has been operating since October, shortly after the construction work began," explains Marta Luque, the driver for Autocars Penedès. Behind them are two passengers waiting to board. They are Mohamed and Abdel, two people from Tarragona who have to travel to El Vendrell for work and school. "We prefer to pay more, but arrive on time," they explain.

More expensive and transfer

Sara's fear of using Renfe is even more surprising. She lives in Hospitalet de l'Infant and works in Vila-seca, so the R16 suits her perfectly. She'd reach her destination in just two stops. Besides, this section hasn't been affected by the roadworks, which were interrupted further upstream, between Tarragona and Sant Vicenç de Calders. But she doesn't care. The train doesn't even want to see it. Every day, she takes a bus from Hospitalet de l'Infant to Tarragona to transfer and catch another to retrace part of the journey to Vila-seca. "It's even more expensive, but the bus never fails and the train is always late," she says angrily. This Thursday, in fact, the R16 was one of the four lines affected by delays on another morning of incidents on the Cercanías (local trains), along with the R4, the R14, and the R15.

Construction work on the future Mediterranean Corridor began in October and has affected around 15,000 people. Although Renfe has allocated around 100 coaches to cover the affected section between Tarragona and Sant Vicenç de Calders by road, many passengers have decided to abandon the train. According to data provided by Renfe shortly after the work began, up to 3,000 travelers They began to make ends meet using buses, high-speed trains, or cars.

The construction work was completed the first weekend of March, but delays and incidents are making it difficult for travelers to trust Renfe again, even in cases where it offers better connections.