Fatal accidents. Landslides. Sinking structures. Questionable maintenance. Lack of investment. Mutinous train drivers. These are just some of the issues that have characterized this tragic week on the Catalan rail network, which ends with a fatal accident in Gelida (preceded by another in Córdoba), three landslides, the collapse of two retaining walls (in Gelida and Pineda), and dozens of minor breakdowns. This unfortunate series of events has led the Generalitat – the body responsible for the service – to announce another shutdown of the entire system this Saturday morning. This has left Catalonia without rail service.More than 1,400 kilometers of track, but no trains.

"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.

The burying of the Gran Via, as it passes through L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, takes another step forward. The construction project was approved five years ago And work was due to begin imminently the following year, in 2021, but it wasn't until this Monday morning that the project was unblocked. The Generalitat (Catalan Government) and the Hospitalet City Council have reached an agreement to begin repairing this section of land between the Rambla Marina and the Llobregat River. If all goes well, the new schedule indicates that work will finally begin during the second half of next year. This is a significant project, both in terms of its economic volume and its social impact, as it aims to transform the entire Bellvitge Hospital area into the largest biomedical hub in southern Europe.

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.

When trains are late, commuters immediately pull out their phones in search of information. Until now, they tried to find out what had happened or when the next train would depart using official Renfe or Adif apps, and even social media platforms like X. Often without success. But for the past three weeks, they've had another option that, according to all users surveyed, "works better" than the official ones. A 27-year-old from Segur de Calafell has created a new app that details, in real time, all the delays on the Catalan rail network and the new service times. Transport me has achieved more than 17,000 downloads in less than a month. In addition, more than 4,100 people visit its web version weekly.

First year of bittersweet balance in Montcada i Reixac compared to the already Historic underground railway tracks. After decades of waiting for the start of these works, the local council reported at the end of January the appearance of significant cracks in some floors of up to three different buildings in the Can Sant Joan neighbourhood, which is located within the area affected by the R2 underground works. These are gaps in the ceiling, floor and walls that in some cases even allow a glimpse of the street or adjacent neighbours.