Commuter rail or railways: what do Catalans choose?

BarcelonaGiven the rail chaos that followed the fatal accident in Gelida, it's no surprise that Cercanías (commuter rail) is one of the most criticized services by the public. The Center for Opinion Studies (CEO) illustrates this discontent with data, adding that the survey was conducted before the disruptions of recent weeks. Cercanías is the service rated worst by Catalans (4.2), far below the satisfaction level of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (7.6), which generates the highest user satisfaction. Young people between 16 and 34 years old give the Cercanías service the lowest ratings, below 4. Although published this Thursday, the data was collected between October 10 and December 8 of last year, that is, a month before the current crisis. In recent weeks, the lack of coordination between the Catalan government, the Spanish state, and the two companies that operate the service, Renfe and Adif, has been one of the most criticized issues. Two officials from Renfe and Adif have been dismissed: the Secretary of State for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, José Antonio Santano, has settled indefinitely in Catalonia And the Catalan government demanded that the central government assume the costs arising from the service's malfunction. All of this has demonstrated that, despite being the service's owner, the Catalan government does not control it.

It's unclear what Catalans would say if asked today who is responsible for improving the service, but this is one of the questions included in the CEO survey. A month ago, citizens pointed to the Generalitat (the Catalan government): 55% considered the Catalan administration responsible for improving the management of commuter trains, while 44% pointed to the Spanish government. With a much more extensive network, 62% of Catalans have used commuter rail at least once in the last year, compared to only 43% who have used the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (the national rail network).

Regarding the evaluation of existing public transport services in Catalonia, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC) receives the highest score (7.6), followed by the Barcelona Metro (7.4) and the AVE high-speed train (7.4), urban (6.9) and intercity (6.6) buses, regional trains (5.5), and finally, the Rodalies commuter rail network (5.5). When the data is cross-referenced by political party, the commuter rail network only receives a passing grade among voters of the People's Party (PP) (6.2) and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) (5.2), precisely the two parties that have decided not to participate in the demonstrations against the rail chaos called for this Saturday.

The Isla government approves

The Illa government is heading into its second year and receives an average rating of 5.1 from Catalans, according to the CEO survey. This is a slight increase compared to its rating a year ago. Citizens continue to rate their local councils higher, with an average score of 5.3, ahead of the Spanish government and the European Commission, which are tied at 4.4. As expected, PSC voters give the Catalan government the highest rating (6.5), followed by those of Comuns (6), ERC (5.8), Junts (5.3), and PP (5.1). The Catalan government receives failing grades among voters of the CUP (4.2), Vox (3.4), and Aliança Catalana (3.3).