Commuter rail: the more sea, the more sail

When the wind blows strongly and the waves are large, if the boat lacks power, it becomes uncontrollable. The sea and the wind win. Therefore, the sail area should not be reduced, but increased. It is the sails that give the boat the power to overcome the sea.

A sail is an aerodynamic profile. Its strength depends on its curvature and the square of the wind speed. When the wind is strong, the curvature of the sails should be reduced and they made flatter. This allows the force of the wind to be better directed in the right direction. A lot of sail is needed, but with the right shape. The boat must be prepared, the halyards tightened, and the sheets trimmed.

This is what happens with commuter trains. The wind blows strongly, and to overcome the storm, the boat must be prepared.

This implies two issues. The manager, the captain of the boat, until now Adif and Renfe, must change. They have demonstrated their short-term incompetence and ignorance: chaos is evident. In the long term, the neglect of maintenance has been significant. It is cynical to denounce the lack of maintenance now, when chaos is total, after having remained silent for over 40 years. The operator must be changed, and the new one given full and comprehensive responsibility for the service, including infrastructure and trains. Let's ensure there is a single person in charge during the transition. With two separate organizations, coordination problems arise, and we lack a single point of responsibility. The facts prove it. The necessary change is substantial and cannot be implemented across the entire network at once: it must be carried out gradually, line by line, but it can be completed within two years.

The Catalan government has capable railway workers who provide good service. This makes the change not particularly complex. It's necessary for some to pass the buck, but the advantage is that the one receiving the buck also knows how to play the game, and better than the one passing it. It's clear that Renfe train drivers oppose this and will denounce the dangers of the change. They are a stakeholder, and therefore their opinion and judgment are conditioned by their group interest, which consists of not losing their jobs or their union power. If the Catalan government doesn't see this, it's blind. And yet, for the moment, they are consulted on everything.

The commuter rail network is underfunded by about 20 billion euros. The budget execution rate between 2010 and 2023 was 50%. And in the last three years, it hasn't even reached 30%. It's not difficult to calculate that the funding shortfall over the last 30 years amounts to around 20 billion. Simply multiply, divide, perform a simple rule of three, and add to the result the portion of unbudgeted investment, for example, the necessary new coastal lines, from Mataró to Barcelona and from Barcelona to Sitges.

The credibility of the central government, which in 15 years has been unable to execute more than 50% of its budget, is low. And yet, it claims that it will invest that money in the next 10 years. Now the central government It mobilizes an investment fund of 120 billion eurosEndowed with public and private funds. The 20 billion euros needed for the commuter rail service should be drawn from this fund, and its administration should be given entirely and unconditionally to the Generalitat (the Catalan government). If the central government doesn't do this, the reader can guess why, and can draw the relevant conclusions about who has rather little credibility in what they say and commit to.

The investment must include both new construction and maintenance. Now we've suddenly discovered that there's a type of maintenance called preventative, which involves monitoring the condition of the infrastructure and trains and taking action before a breakdown occurs. This should be done by an experienced company that monitors everything from embankments and bridges to train wheels and bogies, as well as the electrical network and overhead lines. But neither Renfe nor Adif should do it if we don't want to waste time and solve nothing. What do people with means do when they're sick and their doctor can't cure them? They find another doctor. This rule of common sense also applies here. Public administrations should know that in the railway sector, there's more to it than just Adif and Renfe—knowledge and experience.

In summary: a detailed and justified preventive maintenance plan is needed, one that makes a concrete and verifiable commitment to improving service and reducing breakdowns and incidents, with forecasts for years 1, 2, 3, etc. There are engineering firms in Spain that specialize in this. We need to find them and commission them. As for the investment plan, it should be broken down by semester, with a commitment to provide a report every six months detailing what has been done and what has not. The 400,000 commuter rail passengers deserve an explanation that convinces them that these management changes and this investment commitment will solve the problem. Therefore, the plan must be very clear and explicit.

In addition to the medium-term plan, a short-term plan that the public can verify is necessary: ​​

1) Double up all commuter rail lines, regardless of whether they are running well or not, with bus lines operating at the same frequency as the scheduled train times. Until the trains run on time and with the promised frequency, passengers should be able to choose between bus and train. Making the service free until normalization is achieved has been a good idea.

2) Provide users with a service that accurately informs them of the location of trains and their departure and arrival times at all stations on the network. This is a well-known, secure, inexpensive, and quick-to-implement technology.

This proposal is simple and verifiable. If it is not implemented, the PSC will lose the next elections to the Generalitat (Catalan government) and the PSOE will subsequently lose the general elections for the central government. The reasons for this are self-evident. If anyone thinks otherwise, it would be interesting to know their reasons. They have to be very solid because the evidence that 400,000 people watch it every day is indisputable.