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.

Work on the Garraf railway tunnel, on the R2 South line, will begin this March, as announced by Transport Minister Óscar Puente on Monday. Puente noted that this infrastructure improvement project has already been tendered and contracted, but work had not yet commenced because the Catalan government (Generalitat) had deemed it necessary to prioritize other lines on the commuter rail network. However, the work schedule for this section of the R2 South will no longer be postponed, Puente explained during a breakfast briefing held at the Ateneo de Madrid. In fact, Adif and the Commuter Rail Plan had already anticipated that these maintenance works on the Garraf tunnels—through which the trains pass and which have suffered damage for years due to corrosion caused by sea air humidity—would begin at the end of last year or the beginning of 2026. To carry out this work, however, the third-track installation in Martorell had to be completed so that once the R2 line is closed, the Regional trains would have to be diverted onto this other track. These works will force trains to run on a single track between Garraf and Vilanova i la Geltrú, which will reduce service between these stations and, consequently, force trains on lines R13, R14, R15, R16, and R17 towards Barcelona to be diverted via Vilafranca. To minimize disruption to passengers, Renfe has proposed maintaining 8 trains per hour in each direction from Barcelona to El Prat de Llobregat, 6 trains to Castelldefels, 4 to Garraf, and 2 to Sant Vicenç de Calders (Baix Penedès). They are also planning two additional trains in the morning and evening to maintain the connection with Barcelona on weekdays (although the route will be extended via Vilafranca), as well as several direct bus services, increased intercity bus service, and a new service between Altafulla and Torredembarra and Barcelona.

Last night, Carles Puigdemont exacted a significant price. As we explained yesterday, The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in his favor. (him, Comín, and Ponsatí) and established that the European Parliament stripped them of their parliamentary immunity with clear bias. The ruling states that the rapporteur in charge of investigating the Supreme Court's request was a Bulgarian MEP from the same political group as Vox, the party that acted as a private prosecutor in the trial of the Catalan independence leaders. This individual participated in an event entitled "Catalonia is Spain" in which he called himselfPuigdemont in prison"What happened yesterday doesn't happen very often, because the court has corrected the shortcomings in the European Parliament and the General Court of the European Union and told them to please do things properly. The president in exile celebrated it thus:"

Transport Minister Óscar Puente remains in the eye of the storm. Although he appeared before the Senate last week and again before Congress on Tuesday, the upper house demanded his resignation on Wednesday over his handling of the Adamuz and Gelida accidents, as well as the rail chaos, now concentrated primarily in Catalonia. The People's Party (PP), which holds an absolute majority in the chamber, forced his resignation by presenting a motion calling for "the immediate resignation of the Transport Minister, without prejudice to any political responsibilities that may correspond to the President" of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez. However, they were not alone in the vote. Vox, as well as the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), one of Sánchez's investiture partners, voted in favor of the motion. "It's time to stop minimizing what happened," declared PP Senator Carmen Belén López. In his opinion, the recent accidents are the result of "negligent management": "The fear of being late has become the fear of not arriving at all." During his speech, López accused Puente of lying and spreading "falsehoods": "You don't play games with the safety of Spaniards." The task of responding fell to Socialist Senator Marcos Albadalejo, who lamented the PP's "confrontational" attitude: "Spain has one of the most important railway systems in Europe and it is undergoing a modernization process precisely to address the shortcomings accumulated during the Popular Party governments." He thus regretted that the PP is pretending the state of the railway network doesn't concern them: "Investment has skyrocketed" since the Socialist government, increasing "by more than 60%" since 2017, Mariano Rajoy's last year as head of the Spanish government, Albadalejo said of Adamuz and Gelida, referring to the overall state of the trains.

With fifteen minutes to go before the protest called by railway unions in front of the Ministry of Transport, a group of demonstrators traveling from Tarragona were still 60 kilometers from Madrid. Victims of their own crisis, the problems plaguing the high-speed rail line between the Catalan and Spanish capitals prevented them from reaching the demonstration. Finally, some 300 people—many wearing fluorescent vests—made their presence felt at Nuevos Ministerios, the complex of buildings that houses the headquarters of five ministries, including the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, headed by Óscar Puente. The flags of the six unions that had converged there—red, black, green, white, and blue—waved, creating a cross-section of the entire "railway family." Workers from Renfe, Iryo, and Ouigo shared the space with workers from Adif. These are the companies at the center of the storm following the Adamuz and Gelida accidents and the commuter rail chaos. "This must mark a turning point, a watershed moment," says Pepa Páez, general secretary of the CCOO railway sector, from the stage. "We cannot allow ourselves to normalize what is not normal, we cannot resign ourselves to the railway functioning on a patchwork of solutions," she adds. Noelia Martín, from the CGT, agrees and believes that the recent accidents are not "isolated incidents," but rather "another symptom of the chronic illness" afflicting trains in Spain. And Diego Martín, general secretary of the Spanish Union of Railway Drivers (Semaf), demands immediate changes and a "review of the sector and all its measures," lamenting the insufficient effort dedicated to maintaining the rail network.

Time. This is the factor that will now determine the restoration of normal rail service in Spain, and particularly in Catalonia, where the commuter rail network has been mired in chaos for days. This was reiterated by the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, during his appearance before Congress this Tuesday: "The rail network isn't a teapot. It can't be fixed in two days," stated Puente, who, five days after appearing before the Senate regarding the Adamúz (Córdoba) train accident—also a fatal accident in Gelida—repeated the procedure in the lower house of the Spanish Parliament. Puente appeared again at his own request and that of the parliamentary groups—this Tuesday, the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) submitted a list of requests for his appearance regarding the rail chaos—and immediately took the opportunity to defend his decision to address the situation during this rail crisis. He also apologized to commuter rail users. The Transport Minister has been under intense scrutiny for days, especially from the right wing and the Catalan independence movement, who have called for his resignation. But he is also being targeted by railway unions, particularly train drivers, and will meet with them this Wednesday to discuss their demands.

Coinciding with a Another day of disruption to the commuter rail serviceSecretary of State José Antonio Santano has announced that he will travel to Barcelona to personally oversee the management of the rail problems in Catalonia and ensure the service is restored as soon as possible. Santano arrives this Monday without a return ticket, intending to remain in the Catalan capital until service is fully restored, according to sources at the Ministry of Transport, who emphasize that this proximity should also facilitate direct communication with the Catalan government. Santano's office will be located in the Spanish Government Delegation in Catalonia, the same place where his predecessor, Víctor Morlán, set up shop in 2007, on the eve of the AVE high-speed train's arrival in Barcelona, ​​and amidst another commuter rail crisis.

I would like to believe that Transport Minister Óscar Puente's approach to political participation will be different after his recent experiences. The most solemn and dignified ceremony for the Adamuz and Gelida train accidents took place last Thursday at the Carolina Marín Sports Palace in Huelva. The most significant moment at this state funeral was the speech by Liliana Sáenz, daughter of one of the victims. "We are the families [now 46] who will fight to know the truth," she said, emphasizing the meaning and purpose of her words. "Only the truth," she added, "will help us heal this wound that will never close. We will know the truth, we will fight to ensure there is never another train accident, but we will do so with serenity, with relief."

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Two train accidents with 46 deaths and rail chaos in Catalonia. These were the two issues that Transport Minister Óscar Puente was forced to address before the Senate on Thursday, at the urging of the People's Party. His appearance followed the expected script—the minister defended his handling of the situation—but gradually became increasingly heated. According to Puente, neither the Adamuz accident, which claimed 45 lives, nor the Gelida accident, which resulted in the death of a train driver, was related to the maintenance of the rail network carried out by Adif and his ministry. However, regarding the recent chaos on Catalan trains, the Transport Minister offered some self-criticism. "The commuter rail service is terrible, but we are working to correct it," the minister acknowledged in response to Junts senator Eduard Pujol, with whom he had a tense exchange after Pujol repeatedly called for his resignation. "I'm not deaf, you don't need to tell me to resign again," the minister retorted.

The president of the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF)Ignacio Barrón, the railway engineer, stated this Monday that the "main cause" of the Iryo train derailment in Adamuz (Córdoba) was a broken weld, not a failure of the track itself. Technicians are focusing on this point where rails renewed in 2023 were joined to others installed in 1989, 34 years ago. "Everything seems to indicate that the main cause was the not so much the rail as a weld was broken"He assured.

The train accidents in Adamuz (Córdoba) and on the Cercanías commuter rail line have become a major political crisis for Pedro Sánchez's government. Amidst a growing offensive by the People's Party (PP), which is escalating its rhetoric against the Prime Minister, the Moncloa Palace has announced that the Socialist leader will appear before Congress on Wednesday, February 11, at his own request, to address the train crisis. However, the chosen date has infuriated the PP, who consider it "insensitive," "cruel," and "shameful" that Sánchez "wants to wait two more weeks to explain the accidents when he could do so this week." The PP had demanded the Spanish president's appearance this Thursday in the Senate, where it holds an absolute majority, but Sánchez, who is legally entitled to do so, has circumvented the attempt by Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party to have him appear earlier.

The crisis that has brought the entire commuter rail network to a standstill wasn't caused by the Gelida accident, nor by the recent bad weather. Those were merely the final straw. The current situation is a perfect storm that had been brewing for years, fueled by decades of chronic underinvestment and inadequate maintenance. The saddest aspect of the current crisis is that it could very likely have been avoided, at least in its entirety, if the Spanish government, Renfe, and Adif had acted appropriately. The open animosity between Renfe and Adif, which inevitably leads to a lack of coordination between the two entities, and the deliberately low profile of the Spanish government, which has remained on the sidelines and thus avoided the fallout from the scandal and its share of responsibility, make it much harder to resolve the crisis. The three entities responsible for allowing the commuter rail network to reach this point have demonstrated their lack of technical competence. And the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has neither assumed responsibility for his department nor transferred the necessary powers and resources to the Government. To the chronic lack of investment, the lack of political will to think long-term, and the technical incompetence of those who have led the network to its current crisis, we must add a communications strategy that once again demonstrates a lack of coordination. Adif and the Ministry of Transport have buried their heads in the sand until this Sunday, forcing the Regional Ministry of Territory and Commuter Rail to face the music alone, without adequate information or support from all those involved.

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has once again acknowledged the underfunding of the commuter rail network. These words, which he has uttered before, take on particular significance after the Gelida train accident. Puente admitted that this underfunding makes the service more vulnerable. "It's undeniable," he asserted, although he did not directly point to this issue as the cause of the accident. In a press conference to explain the Adamuz accident, but also to detail what happened in Gelida, Puente assured that the Spanish government is investing heavily to reverse this situation. "We will continue to do so," he concluded. Despite admitting the underfunding of the commuter rail network, Puente also added that it is very complex and that, perhaps due to its age, it has a very unique route and passes through very challenging terrain, with dense vegetation and significant slopes. Specifically, the Gelida accident was caused by a landslide that struck the driver's cab directly, killing a member of the training team. Puente attributed the accident to the heavy rains of the preceding days, which caused the landslide to weigh much more than usual and led to the collapse of the retaining wall. Regarding the ownership of this wall, the minister stated that he does not know who owns it, as there are doubts as to whether it belongs to the AP-7 (Association of Motor Vehicles) or Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure manager). This is not the first time the minister has acknowledged the lack of investment in the commuter rail network. Just this past September, he did so in Congress, when he admitted that the Catalan rail network is the one that has received "worse treatment" from the State and is the most deteriorated"It's the oldest network in every sense and the one that has suffered the worst treatment," he stated at the time. In this regard, Puente maintained that his ministry was investing "everything that can be invested" to renovate it without reaching the "limit" of having to cut off service. In March, it was also necessary to apologize to the lower house for the railway chaos that occurred especially during that month And he defended the investments in infrastructure projects his ministry was undertaking to improve the network. Puente asked the pro-independence movement, which had been the most critical of the minister, to clarify its position: "Either we cut lines or we carry out works while providing service."

The week has started terribly. At the time we spoke to you, The death toll from last night's train accident in Adamuz rises to 39.In the province of Córdoba, there are 150 injured, some in critical condition. According to the official version, an Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid derailed, crossed onto the adjacent continuous track, and caused an Alvia train traveling from Madrid to Huelva to derail. Two carriages of this Alvia train, carrying about fifty people, were thrown from the train and fell down a 4-meter embankment.

The names of the key figures were still unknown, and today they have been made public. Òscar Playà, the current director of the Barcelona metro network (TMB), will be the new CEO of Cercanías Cataluña, the new company that will take over the Cercanías operationThis was explained by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Transport and Mobility, Óscar Puente, who on Monday morning formally established the new company, which will also be officially registered before a notary this week. The presidency of the new Cercanías Catalunya will also be held by a Catalan, the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque. These are, therefore, the two names that will lead the board of directors of this joint venture (formed by the Generalitat and Renfe, i.e., the State) and which has the mandate to operate – and improve – both Cercanías and Regional services from now on. Sources from the Ministry of Territory said that Playà "was the best option" due to her more than 20 years of experience "leading complex organizations" and her "extensive knowledge of the railway sector." Since 2021, Playà has served as general manager of the TMB metro network. He had previously worked at the ATM as director of T-mobility, and from now on, according to the Catalan government, he will become "more involved in the management and direction of the company."

After many weeks of political debate and uncertainty, the Spanish and Catalan governments have stepped on the gas and, in less than 24 hours, have defined and announced next year's transport fares and ticket types. Now, with these new changes, understanding the vast array of options, prices, and discounts is no easy task, and users will have to carefully consider which ticket offers the best value starting next year. We break down all the changes and announcements made in the last few hours in four sections:

Traveling from Barcelona to Valencia by train is much more complicated than going to Madrid, even though the two cities are closer together. In the best-case scenario, the Euromed journey takes three and a half hours, an hour longer than traveling to Madrid. This centralized design of the rail network has hampered the connection between the Catalan and Valencian capitals for decades, and now seems closer to being remedied. The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, set a new timetable this Thursday for the Mediterranean Corridor, one of the major outstanding issues for strengthening the national rail network. He made this announcement before 2,500 business leaders gathered in Valencia, at an event organized for years by the Valencian Business Association (AVE) to demand the implementation of this infrastructure, and which is being held for the last time. According to Puente, Barcelona and Valencia will be connected by high-speed rail within two years. This objective will be achieved when the standard gauge conversion between Tarragona and Castellón is completed, work that will allow for international gauge trains to run on the route connecting Barcelona and Valencia. The development of the double-track line between Valencia and Castellón will remain pending, and the environmental impact statement will be requested in the coming weeks. The Socialist government also anticipates that the Mediterranean Corridor infrastructure, connecting Almería to the French border, will be completed by 2027. However, the minister has not set a date for the complete construction of the entire infrastructure, which will originate in Algeciras, because the section between Granada and Almería is the least developed and will also have to overcome significant technical complexities. Despite the continued delays, the progress on the Mediterranean Corridor coincides with the investment effort undertaken by the Spanish government since Pedro Sánchez took office. Since 2018, €8.327 billion has been put out to tender, of which €5.389 billion has already been spent, with works underway in all the autonomous communities through which the Mediterranean Corridor passes. According to the Ministry, during this period the percentage of infrastructure in service has increased from 21% to 36%, and the percentage under construction has risen from 45% to 83%. In Catalonia alone, new works worth nearly €917 million have been put out to tender and €1.397 billion has been spent, with a significant portion of the budget allocated to completing the long-delayed Sagrera station project. These works are "practically finished" with regard to the railway component of the future station, which will have represented an investment of €1 billion.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente announced on Monday that the Spanish government will launch the AV350 project to accelerate the high-speed trains (AVE) connecting Barcelona and Madrid to 350 kilometers per hour. He indicated that the upgrade will shorten the journey between the two cities to two hours—currently almost three—although the minister did not rule out the possibility of an even shorter journey time. He emphasized that this speed is currently only found on China's rail network. The upgrade is expected to begin next year and is estimated to take three years to complete.

"Cercanías is the oldest network in every sense and the one that has suffered the worst treatment," said this Thursday the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, in his appearance before the Senate to explain the latest railway incidents in Spain. Congratulations, Minister. Thank you for acknowledging this, but it's too late to acknowledge something that we long-suffering Catalan commuters have known for years. The mistreatment that infrastructure in Catalonia, especially railways, has suffered and continues to suffer is the result of the mismanagement, or bad faith, of many Spanish governments, both Socialist and Popular, who have made a lot of promises and put budget allocations on paper, only to fail to deliver, and the money has ended up elsewhere.