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.

"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.