Sunday night, 30 minuts condensed the Rodalies drama, both from a historical perspective and from the analysis of the current situation. That the chronology of Renfe's poor service dated back to 1988 was an act of justice to all the users who suffered Renfe's serious deficiencies in silence and with resignation at that time. In fact, the report played with jumps to the past and showed how, since then, everything has gone from bad to worse. The images from 1988 and 2026 by Josep Maria Romeu, the spokesperson for the first Renfe users' platform, demonstrated this. An excellent resource. The archive images from TV3 became a damning proof of the grievances that Catalans have suffered with the precariousness of the service. News of accidents, misfortunes, fires, and breakdowns were accumulating and happening one after another, turning it into a very revealing film of events. In fact, you realized to what extent technological progress available to citizens has been what has allowed the countless deficiencies of Renfe to be denounced. Social networks and mobile phone cameras have allowed users to organize among themselves and publicly denounce the accumulation of blunders they have to endure every day. The testimonies were very well chosen. The exercise of following the journey of a few regular users was also very revealing, because any follow-up trip was a collection of incidents that reflected the chaos. The sequence of the passenger waiting for the alternative bus in Sant Cugat, being scolded by the driver and people recklessly crossing the roundabout, is excellent for confirming the poor organization and how user safety is put at risk.The report Renfe, the endless story reveals that Renfe has had no choice but to accept a forced exercise in transparency. The images from the Renfe control center at Clot station, from where operations are managed, were very revealing. One could call it a center of disarray, with the chaos of stressed workers interfering with each other. That panorama could inspire a sitcom, a workplace comedy. In fact, 30 minuts itself distilled an internal thread of a certain sarcasm. A bitter humor like that developed by passengers trapped by the incompetence of Adif and Renfe, this two-headed monster that cannot even agree with itself, as was also clear. The appearance of the singer Gerard Quintana in the middle of it all was the tragicomic echo of how the train ends up determining our lives.More than discovering anything to us, the 30 minutes served to immortalize an unforgivable mistreatment of the citizen, as documentary proof for the future. It will be necessary to see if in future generations these images will seem unthinkable to them or if they will only be the next victims of a new chapter in this endless story.

It was the worst moment of the railway crisis. There were disruptions on practically all lines, multiple daily alerts indicating problems with Rodalies (commuter rail) and more speed restrictions than ever. Users were at their limit and, to top it off, the train drivers went on strike. All this happened last February, when the Rodalies service experienced one of the most complicated moments in its history. Far from what users perceived, however, the statistics compiled by Renfe to analyze delays point in another direction: according to the operator, in February trains had an average delay of only 2 and a half minutes. speed restrictions than ever. Users were at their limit and, to top it off, the train drivers went on strike. All this happened last February, when the Rodalies service experienced one of the most complicated moments in its history. Far from what users perceived, however, the statistics compiled by Renfe to analyze delays point in another direction: according to the operator, in February the trains had an average delay of only 2 and a half minutes.This is reflected in theMonthly Report on Commuter Rail Service Punctuality that Renfe prepares for all autonomous communities each month. It specifies that the delay is 2 and a half minutes if all trains are taken into account (punctual, early, and delayed) and that, if only the trains that are late are taken into account, then the average delay climbs to 26 minutes. But how is it explained that the month when the network worked worst, with a train drivers' strike included, the trains were delayed so little on average? Renfe explains that this statistic only takes into account delays that are "attributable to the operator and over which Renfe can act to improve", and not any other external element, such as all infrastructure incidents, for example. In fact, Renfe's figures indicate that if only problems arising from the operator itself are taken into account, 90% of trains were delayed by less than five minutes. On the other hand, if all circumstances are added up, only 16% of trains arrived on time. "The publication of this data – continue the operator's spokespeople – is a further step in the transparency policy that no other operator is undertaking," they point out.The company's own president, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, explained it this way in a message responding to the spokesperson for the Dignitat a les Vies platform, Anna Gómez, on the social network X.

It was one of the reasons that generated the most warnings from train drivers during the peak moments of the railway crisis: the number of trees that fell on or very close to the train tracks has forced Adif to cut down 13,680 trees between January and March. The rain and wind storms Harry and Ingrid exposed the weakness of the Catalan railway network in the face of meteorological inclemencies, and this is reflected in Adif's statistics. Of the total trees felled during this period, the infrastructure manager removed 8,380 as part of its usual vegetation control plan and an additional 5,300 trees as part of the emergency plan for the storms. The most affected area was the Maçanet-Portbou route, in the north of the country.

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, met this morning at first light with the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, at Palau, to address the situation in which Renfe's commuter service in Catalonia has been immersed since the crisis opened in January, with the accidents in Adamuz and Gelida. This is the first meeting between the two leaders since the railway crisis broke out, almost three months ago. Puente and Illa arranged this meeting by taking advantage of the fact that the minister has been in Barcelona since yesterday because he attended the first edition of the AENA literary awards last night.

Problems are piling up on the R2 Sud Rodalies line, in Garraf, since the tunnel maintenance works began two weeks ago. The alternative transport plan designed to ensure train circulation while the work continues is not working. The reason? Some of the drivers have refused to work with the new schedules defined by Renfe for this operation, which has rendered the new timetable for the trains useless, as they now run on a single track due to the works. The Spanish drivers' union Semaf alleges that the company did not comply with the established deadlines to give sufficient notice of the changes.

The tragedies in Adamuz and Gelida in January, which caused 47 fatalities, cast doubt on the entire Spanish railway system, not only because the accidents called into question the maintenance and safety of the network, but also because since then train travel has not been the same. In Catalonia, Rodalies still suffers from line closures, speed restrictions and service delays, and high-speed journey times have lengthened. Trips from Barcelona to Madrid now take half an hour longer due to the system, and there are unexpected delays and stops on the tracks without anyone providing any explanation to users. The reason is the speed restrictions imposed by the ministry – especially on the Zaragoza-Calatayud stretch – following incidents reported by train drivers. What complaints are we talking about? Were there more incidents than usual after Adamuz? Did the labor dispute between the Semaf union and the ministry, which ended in a strike, have anything to do with it? And more importantly, what actions has Transport taken to resolve the state of the infrastructure? ARA made a transparency request to the Spanish government to clarify these points, but the request has been rejected. In other words, the public administration has refused to release this information, and the Communications Department of the Ministry of Transport refers to the official response given through the transparency process.

For over a week now, the intercity bus stop on Gran Via, located between Aribau and Muntaner streets, has been teeming with activity. From six in the evening onwards, it becomes an unstoppable hive of activity: buses double-parked, horns blaring, and passengers rushing from work to get home to the various towns in the Garraf region, where these buses serve. Where three buses used to stop, up to six now stop—double the usual number. The reason? Once again, the economic crisis and the commuter rail construction.

The southern commuter rail corridor, one of the most strained sections of the Catalan rail network, continues to face setbacks. This March, it was announced that one of the key projects intended to improve train capacity and flow on this section of the R2 South line—the quadrupling of the tracks between Castelldefels and El Prat—has been stalled once again and is now pushed back to well beyond 2030. The reason? A change of heart by the Ministry of Transport has sent the project back to square one: the initial administrative procedures must begin anew, rendering the original timeline meaningless. Adding these tracks to the R2 line is considered one of the most significant actions in the Commuter Rail Plan in terms of improving capacity in this area. The project is not new; it first appeared in the 2020 Commuter Rail Plan. In mid-2024, with Adif's approval, the construction project was drafted. At that time, the work was considered simply an "expansion" of the existing infrastructure, which technically allowed bureaucratic steps to move forward.

A technical issue at the Adif station in Sant Vicenç de Calders, Tarragona, is currently causing disruptions on seven Renfe commuter rail lines: R2 South, R4, R13, R14, R15, R16, and R17, according to both companies. The rail infrastructure manager, Adif, explained that the problem affects the infrastructure that controls signaling, track switches, and train movement at this location, and that technicians are working to restore the system and return the network to normal. Meanwhile, on the R2 South line, service is suspended between Cunit and Sant Vicenç. On the R4 line, the disruption is between El Vendrell and Sant Vicenç. The interruption on the R14, R15, R16, and R17 lines is between Torredembarra and Sant Vicenç, and on the R13 line, between Roda de Berà and Sant Vicenç.

For months, users had been demanding action, and the Catalan government had assured them it would address the issue. Finally, this Thursday, Renfe announced that it will replace some of the trains offering Avant services to provide more daily seats between Lleida, Tarragona, and Barcelona starting next week. These regulated-fare high-speed trains, used to connect major cities, have become an alternative, albeit a more expensive one, for most commuter rail users, given the constant chaos of the conventional Catalan rail network. as NOW already explainedBut demand has increased so much that the service was also on the verge of collapse.

The surge in investments, construction projects, and also disruptions to railway infrastructure and service interruptions across the country has dramatically increased the number of alternative road transport plans that Renfe has in place. Finding available buses at a reasonable price is no easy task when multiple problems coincide, and this has led the Spanish train operator to embark on a new project: Renfe now wants to create its own bus company to avoid relying on private providers. This was explained by spokespeople for the operator on Tuesday in a statement detailing that the tender for the new subsidiary has already been approved. Its objective is to handle all alternative road transport plans (known as PATs in railway jargon) designed for each train. In this way, Renfe will no longer have to depend on the availability of external companies and assures that it will be able to provide a "more agile" response to passengers, "with more personalized attention and a better integrated service."

This article aims to define how train services in Catalonia can be separated with two objectives: to clearly identify the responsibilities of the Catalan government (Generalitat) and the central government, and to facilitate their management. The proposal negotiated between the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and the central government does not achieve this goal. Responsibilities are shared, and management is entrusted to Renfe, an operator that has demonstrated its shortcomings in the current model. This is the solution that will most likely be implemented because it is the quickest and most practical: first, we recover the commuter and regional train services. When the system's limitations become apparent again in the short term, it will be necessary to remember that better alternative solutions exist. The one proposed here is one of them.

She gets off the bus to catch another, and a short train ride remains before she reaches her destination. From the UAB to Vilafranca, "it takes two and a half hours if everything goes well," Paula Pàmies replies resignedly as she heads home. A month earlier, the journey on the R4 and R8 lines, with a transfer in Martorell, took "an hour," and she admits to being "fed up with waiting and rushing for nothing."

What has happened to us in recent weeks, from the announcement of a new regional financing model to the commuter rail collapse that will last, at the very least, throughout this year? The short answer is: we have suffered from a large fiscal deficit and poor regional funding. We are paying more attention.

I would have preferred to go to Girona by train, because with high speed it's a breeze, but I went by car. It took almost three times as long and, according to ChatGPT, I emitted almost five times more CO₂. But that way I made sure to arrive on time, calculating, of course, a generous margin for my departure time, just in case the ring roads had an unpleasant surprise in store for me, which wasn't the case.

«How are you? I'm Natàlia Vila, a journalist in charge of the infrastructure and mobility section at ARA. My job mainly consists of explaining and monitoring the management and operation of the commuter rail system in Catalonia." This is how she addressed the Telegram group of ARA Award subscribers“Trains take up about 75% of my time under normal circumstances… but in the last three weeks, the situation has consumed all my hours, as well as those of many colleagues who have joined this team as reinforcements to be able to report everything as accurately as possible,” she added. It was the day of the Renfe and Adif staff strike, which further aggravated the crisis. Natàlia Vila highlighted the main factors: “Many decades of political decisions that have prioritized high-speed rail over commuter rail, a lack of maintenance—experts and train drivers say the methods used are questionable—and, of course, a failure to implement the budgeted investments.” She added that it is an additional difficulty “to make decisions 600 kilometers away.”

The Renfe train drivers' strike lasted one day, because yesterday it was cancelled after negotiations between the unions and the ministry in Madrid.

The train drivers and the rest of the Renfe and Adif workersThe strike was called off at noon The train strike that began this Monday has been called off, according to Semaf General Secretary Diego Martín, after another meeting with the Ministry of Transport. Hours later, the railway unions explained that they had reached an agreement with the Spanish government to call off the strike. This agreement includes increased investment in track and train maintenance, improved safety measures, and strengthened mechanisms to ensure compliance, as Martín explained. Thus, the planned strikes for Tuesday and Wednesday have been suspended. This Tuesday, eight commuter rail lines—R1, R3, R4, R7, R8, RG1, R15, and RL4—continue to experience service disruptions, and alternative bus services have been arranged to cover their routes. The agreement reached by the unions Semaf, CCOO, and UGT—but not CGT, which is maintaining the strike—with the Spanish government is based on improved investment in infrastructure and working conditions in the sector. "It's a historic agreement for the railway," the union leader told the media. The general secretary of Semaf explained that the more than 25-page national agreement will "double" investment in rail and should establish "clear limits and responsibilities" for the main players in the sector. In fact, the largest union confirmed that they are calling off the strike because they have achieved "all the demands" they had made. Among the main measures included in the agreement is the classification of breaks of less than 45 minutes taken by train drivers as "driving time." Regarding Adif, the agreement establishes "fixed and permanent" regular meetings with workers and a 77% increase in maintenance spending by 2030, reaching the budgeted 1.179 billion euros. Regarding high-speed rail, spending will increase by 44%, rising from €435.6 million last year to €629 million. As for staffing, an agreement has been reached to create 1,200 additional contracts for maintenance and driving, among other roles, at Renfe, and 2,400 additional positions at Adif over a four-year period. Furthermore, the agreement, which has helped to demobilize the sector, includes the creation of a working group to develop a common protocol for responding to weather alerts and the insourcing of maintenance for some trains—including those used in Tarragona and Portbou—and for any new trains that are put out to tender. The agreement also highlights the fact that a committee must be established within a maximum of one month to harmonize and coordinate railway risk management actions, that a working group must be created with Adif to monitor the implementation and removal of temporary speed restrictions (TSRs), and that a document regulating notifications must be drafted by the workers.

"Now it turns out that more than 400 points on the railway network need to be checked. And if we do nothing and don't complain, we'll just keep running as if nothing's wrong and see if another tragedy doesn't happen? That can't be. We want a structural reform and greater safety," argue sources from Semaf, the largest train drivers' union. "We thought we knew the most complicated areas, and we already thought there were many, but they weren't all of them. But we see the most serious problems: crooked trees, potholes... When you go through a tunnel, unless a piece falls, you don't know if everything is okay or not," argues Francisco Cárdenas, a train driver with more than four years of experience.

Adrià Ramírez (Taradell, 1987) is the president of Public Transport Promotion (PTP), one of the user associations leading Saturday afternoon's demonstration against the management of the commuter rail service. The PTP, which is not affiliated with any political party, has been acting as a lobbying group for years within the rail sector and the public administration. "I encourage all train users to approach their nearest platform: that's often how things start to move," he says.