Nogueras to Rufián on the transfer of the commuter rail service: "Half a load of crap is still crap"

MadridPedro Sánchez appeared before Congress this Wednesday to account for railway accidents And the commuter rail chaos, although the situation of the Catalan network didn't surface until five hours after the start of his speech, following rebuttals from Junts and Esquerra. The Spanish president asserted that the situation is "serious," but blamed the lack of investment during the PP governments and the "extreme" weather conditions in the Mediterranean to explain the rail chaos. "The commuter rail is a load of crap," retorted Gabriel Rufián (ERC), who reminded everyone that it's the primary mode of transport for ordinary people. Míriam Nogueras (Junts), who called for the resignation of the Minister of Transport, responded: "The commuter rail is a load of crap, we agree [...]. But half a load of crap is still crap." Nogueras was referring to the transfer of the commuter rail service that Esquerra Republicana (ERC) agreed to with the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), which resulted in the creation of a joint venture with Renfe (the Spanish national railway company), with the Catalan government (Generalitat) owning half and Renfe the other half. "We don't understand it," she said, taking the opportunity to also criticize the agreement for the new funding model. "Bad funding disguised as bad funding is still bad funding," she said, "Catalans don't deserve this mess." "Either you're with us or you stay with Spain," the Junts leader in Madrid concluded, addressing the Republicans. Rufián was not present in the chamber when she referred to the Junts representative and would not have been able to respond because he had already used his speaking time. During his speech, Rufián accused the Spanish government of "perpetuating a classist model" favoring the AVE high-speed train at the expense of commuter rail, and reminded Sánchez that when he was a child and took commuter trains, even without extreme weather conditions, they were already unreliable.

Sánchez urges Juntos to negotiate

For Sánchez, the commuter rail problem stems from a "structural" situation of aging infrastructure due to a lack of investment by previous PP governments – "Not a single train was acquired during the Rajoy and Aznar administrations," he said – and rainfall has also played a significant role. "Catalonia is experiencing its wettest winter in the last 30 years," he noted, adding that there had also been torrential rains the week before the Gelida accident. However, he reaffirmed that the Spanish government has reacted "swiftly" by reviewing the issues on the tracks, and despite the chaos of recent weeks, he maintained that the solution is "on the right track." In this regard, he stated that half of the Ministry of Transport's investment is earmarked for the Catalan network and that the 2025-2030 commuter rail plan anticipates an investment of 8 billion euros. The Spanish president also addressed Junts per Catalunya. He criticized Míriam Nogueras for complaining about the lack of investment while opposing the new financing model and the elimination of the FLA (Regional Liquidity Fund) for the autonomous communities, since that would mean more money for Catalonia. "To oppose this system while simultaneously complaining about the weakness of public services is inconsistent," he stated.