The rail chaos in Catalonia, affecting both commuter and freight services, coupled with the closure of the AP-7 highway, has a cost, currently incalculable, for the Catalan economy. The full impact will likely become clear when the first-quarter GDP figures are calculated, but for now, the consequences are lost work hours, goods not arriving and even industries being paralyzed, and public funds being used to pay for the removal of tolls on the C-32 highway—already around 9 million euros for the lower section alone—or for the rent. On Tuesday, the government approved an allocation of over 4 million euros. The true cost, however, is difficult to calculate when the logistics sector is forced to seek alternatives to rail transport, whose costs skyrocket, or when some companies, like Inovyn in Martorell, which has halted production, are not receiving the raw materials they need to manufacture their products. In fact, the chemical sector is one of the most affected, especially in the province of Barcelona, ​​and not so much in Tarragona, where many of the goods are moved through the pipeline transfer network (rack).

A street less than six meters wide runs alongside the Portbou riverbank, still carrying water from the recent rains, leading to the only vehicle access point for the second largest rail freight warehouse in Spain. It's 180,000 square meters, long forgotten, near the French border, but these days the paralysis of infrastructure in Catalonia is felt more acutely than ever after the accident in Gelida and the closure of the Rubí tunnel, through which freight passes. 23,000 tons of steel are piled up in the large warehouse in Portbou belonging to the rail logistics operator Railsider, which specializes in the steel industry. And another 8,000 tons are on their way. Operating since 1997, Railsider is the only operator still active in this last town on the Costa Brava, but in almost three decades it has never experienced a situation like this.

We have goods trapped—captive—in the swarm of blockages on the rail network. For those still being transported by road, there's no option to switch to rail, because there's neither the necessary capacity nor adequate service. And when they do decide to move by road, they encounter a major disruption on the country's main highway, the AP7 southbound, forcing them to scramble to find alternative routes where no one dares to confirm anything—not when, how, or where they'll arrive. Every day, drivers, planners, logistics managers, and operators must search for impossible solutions to deal with the mess they've found themselves in.

Chaos, disarray... Words fail to describe the situation on the commuter rail network following the train crash last week into a retaining wall that had collapsed onto the tracks due to heavy rains near Gelida. The accident resulted in the death of a trainee driver and injuries to 37 others. And now we have to add to the list. the blockade of goods in the ports of Barcelona and TarragonaApparently, the accident, combined with bad weather and other factors, exacerbated deficiencies that had accumulated over years.