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.

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.

Resignation is the prevailing feeling on the first day of the launch of the alternative services. railway maintenance works in the Garraf tunnelsEarly Monday morning, Adif began work to improve this infrastructure, which is badly damaged by marine corrosion. This also meant it was the first day of the alternative road plan, using buses, organized by Renfe to mitigate the effects and ensure mobility for its customers. However, many users say they have long been accustomed to the bus due to the constant disruptions and construction, especially on this section of the rail network. Therefore, today's work didn't "surprise" them. Others lament the fact that the new system will force them to get up earlier or reorganize their workday. This is the case for Andy, who commutes to Barcelona every day and now says he will have to get up 40 minutes earlier. "The train is never good, I've gotten used to the bus," explained Cesc Lacalle, a student, in statements to ACN. Yolanda, another traveler, explains the same thing: for months she's preferred to leave "with more time" but with the option of arriving on time, she says. Selena, who says she usually travels by bus for convenience, considered this morning, during rush hour, that the increased service is "a great solution, as far as possible."

The latest Commuter Rail Plan, the most up-to-date, is almost 300 pages long. It's the document that details all the railway works planned from now until 2030 to improve the Catalan network: it explains what they consist of, specifies their cost, and establishes a timeline. These range from the most ambitious projects, such as the Sagrera station, the doubling of the R3 line, and the undergrounding of the Montcada station, to much smaller, faster, and even cheaper projects that can significantly improve the network's capacity. One of these smaller planned projects is in Tordera. It's classified under the section of "strategic" works programmed to "improve network capacity" and involves building a siding in front of this station, on the section of the R1 line between Blanes and Maçanet-Massanes. "This section is single-track, without sidings, for a length of more than 15 kilometers," the plan notes. "To facilitate the resolution of incidents that may disrupt the normal operation of the line, it is proposed to reinstate the siding and platform formerly in use at Tordera station," the document continues.

A scare in La Garriga. Part of a bridge spanning the Onze de Setembre avenue in the town collapsed this Saturday morning. The incident caused no injuries, but forced the closure of the central avenue. The Town Hall explained that the area is affected by the R3 line doubling works, which have kept rail service suspended since autumn. The council maintains that it is a safety risk zone and alleges that the collapse is due to "poor execution of the works." Therefore, they announce that they will demand explanations and accountability from Adif, the infrastructure manager and the company responsible for the project. According to municipal sources, the Onze de Setembre avenue is a busy thoroughfare and a main route between the eastern and western parts of the town. The collapse occurred mid-morning, at a time when no vehicles were passing, which is why no injuries were reported. The R3 roadworks have caused mobility restrictions in this area since January, and the City Council says they have been complaining for some time that the work is not being carried out "properly." The mayor of La Garriga, Meritxell Budó, explained to ARA that she believes there is a "lack of coordination" that is leaving the works unfinished. In a message on social media, the Councilor for Economic Development, Commerce, Mobility, and Climate Action, Àlex Valiente, explained that the situation in the municipality with the construction "creates hazardous situations." Valiente asserted that the council has been denouncing this "at every follow-up meeting" for some time. "And in the end, it happened," he concluded before demanding "immediate solutions."

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."

The Spanish government has put figures to the state's response to the recent chaos on the commuter rail network. The Secretary of State for Transport, José Antonio Santano, confirmed this morning that the investment in 91 emergency works initiated after the Gelida train crash—around 70 of which are still pending—has already exceeded 80 million euros. "We are close to 90 million and it is possible that [the figure] will increase," he said from Barcelona, ​​at a joint press conference with the Catalan Minister of Territory, Silvia Paneque.

"It made no sense to build another access to the C-32 in Canet, if there was already one a little further on," says Mercè Girona, spokesperson for the Canet de Mar Environmental Emergency Coordinator (CEAC). This week, the environmentalist residents of CEAC, Preservem el Maresme, and Unió de Pagesos received the news they had long awaited: the new access to the C-32 in Canet de Mar will not go ahead after all. After years of neighborhood mobilizations and a substantial list of objections, the Balearic Government has decided to back down and has removed this infrastructure project from the package of works that will soon be put out to tender, which includes plans for five other new access points to the highway in the Maresme region. "We had a meeting in September where they already told us, but we waited for them to make it official with the town councils as well," explains Girona. Now, the final step remains: for the decision to be put in writing. "This will be around Christmas, when the resolutions regarding the appeals we've filed are published," the neighborhood spokesperson explained. "They assured us that access "The Canet project has declined and will not be awarded or budgeted," he confirms. For its part, the Government says it is not completely ruling out the project, but rather that it will be "re-examined," and assures that it could be resumed in the future if the local councils act. "All the municipalities would have to agree, which we believe will not happen, and we would have to start from scratch to find new funding," explains Girona, who considers this option practically ruled out.

Today it has started the biggest service cut in the history of Cercanías, which has been planned for the R3 (the line from Hospitalet de Llobregat to the Tour de Carol).

"If a passenger train catches fire inside this tunnel, there's no way to quickly rescue anyone." This is the emphatic statement made by Ana Gómez, spokesperson for the user platform Dignity on the Tracks, which for several months has been raising the issue of safety inside the Garraf railway tunnels, through which hundreds of passenger trains pass every day. The platform asserts that the infrastructure—essential for the circulation of the entire southern corridor of Catalonia—is very old and narrow, and lacks sufficient space to allow for a rescue in the event of an incident inside. Union sources also add that the tunnel does not comply with European safety regulations and needs to be renovated. "It has exits to the outside, but not for emergency use," the UGT emphasizes.

Renfe and the government have again flatly rejected the third alternative plan put forward today by train user platforms to make up for the lack of trains on the R3 line during the upcoming expansion works, which will last sixteen months. This Wednesday, to guarantee road mobility while the track work continues, the government and the operator agreed on a new bus offer, this time halfway between the one they announced with great fanfare at the beginning of June and the halved version that Renfe unilaterally decided to bid for at the end of June.

On May 19th, two months and three days ago, a street in the Raval district called Torres i Amat was closed to vehicle traffic. It was three wide.

After a year of shutdown due to wear on the cutting wheel, the tunnel boring machine on Barcelona Metro's Line 9 received a new part this afternoon, enabling it to continue working. Technicians have already begun lowering all the parts into the shaft on Mandri Street to assemble the front part of the cutting wheel, and the Regional Minister for Territorial Operations, Silvia Paneque, explained that, once ready, the machine will be put back into operation in early autumn.

New controversy surrounding the R3 works between Renfe and the Generalitat. Three weeks after presenting a A historic sixteen-month cut-off due to construction work on the R3 highway and an "unprecedented" alternative plan to mitigate its effectsNow Renfe has reversed itself and decided, unilaterally, to change its plans.: Renfe Viajeros has halted the tender for the announced alternative plan and has made another, substantially larger cut.

More changes to the commuter rail network. This Monday, a closure begins on the R4 line between Vilafranca and Martorell, which will last until September and will leave only one train per hour in each direction. According to Renfe's early morning report, the service began without incident, in accordance with the alternative road plan already planned for this situation.

Of a great work, that of Wheel of Berà, to another: the R3 commuter line. The Catalan rail network remains immersed in its own whirlwind of improvement works, and after many delays, it's now the turn of the R3, one of the most battered lines (from Hospitalet to Puigcerdà) in Catalonia. A date has been set: the doubling works will resume on September 27 and will last 16 months. During this time, train traffic will be completely cut off between Montcada Bifurcació and La Garriga, and it will become the largest rail traffic disruption ever in the country.

The works on the L8 of the Generalitat Railways are preparing for a new phase: the arrival of the Tunnel boring machine that will drill through Barcelona from Plaza Espanya to the Gràcia neighborhood, next year. To introduce this large cutting machine underground, it is obviously necessary to make a hole through which the pieces will be lowered into the subsoil, the machine will be assembled, and drilling will begin. This attack shaft will be located on Gran Via, next to Plaça Espanya, between Llança and Vilamarí streets. It will run 20 meters underground but will nevertheless be very visible to residents because the hole doesn't reach it alone.

A new rail closure—this one lasting four days—is directly affecting traffic on the R2 commuter line. Since yesterday, May 1, until Sunday, May 4, trains have not been running between the Vilanova y la Geltrú and El Prat de Llobregat stations. The reason for this closure is the airport access works, which have forced Renfe to implement a new alternative plan with buses to cover the route by road. However, complaints on this working Friday for many people have not been long in coming.

The Mediterranean Corridor works that Adif is carrying out in Sant Vicenç de Calders since the fall of last year Not only are they generating service interruptions and disruptions, alternative plans, and incidents: the works are also worrying experts about the final outcome they will have when they are finished. Various platforms defending users and academics consulted by this newspaper fear that, once the works at this station are completed, the result will be "worse for users" and that a "bottleneck" will be created that will greatly complicate operations in the area.