A Catalan high-speed rail network at public prices: the recipe for ending the railway collapse?

BarcelonaOvercrowded trains, delays, people stranded on the platform... The railway collapse in Catalonia could at least have a "relatively easy" solution, according to the latest report by Comisiones Obreras (Workers' Commissions). At the beginning of the month, this union dusted off a project they had already attempted to launch four years ago, in 2021, and which they now consider "more necessary than ever." The aim is to shake up the current "scarce" Avant services (which offer medium-distance high-speed journeys at regulated prices) to create a "real" Catalan public network of high-speed trains for medium-distance journeys, adequate to current demand and allowing the working class and students to travel to work or university every day. And to do so with sufficient seats, on time, and at competitive prices.

The report, titled Catalan high-speed rail network, a public service obligation. A train for the working class., has a very clear objective: to expand high-speed train seats at affordable prices without further overloading the system, which is already full of trains and service frequencies. The proposal has already reached the Generalitat (Catalan Government), and several meetings are already scheduled to study the project.

Alberto Puivecino, head of Mobility and Infrastructure at the Catalan Workers' Commissions (CCOO) and author of the study, assures that "if there is political will, this plan could be launched tomorrow." The report has everything planned: the lines, routes, schedules, stops, and even the number of new seats available that would be created and where the necessary trains would be sourced to achieve this. The report proposes that this new Catalan high-speed network—which they have dubbed CATAV—would have two lines: one from Figueres-Vilafant to Lleida (passing through Girona, Barcelona, and Tarragona) and another from Figueres-Vilafant to Tortosa (which would run from north to south across the entire territory). It envisages four distinct phases of implementation, in which different stops would be added, until reaching Perpignan in the final phase (see graph). "This last part is more complex because it involves leaving the state, and that is always more complicated, so we have left it as a possibility in the fourth phase," admits Puivecino.

Criticism of the limited availability of places

Currently in Catalonia, there is "little supply of trains with the Avant fare," the report explains. There are just over 10,000 seats. Some of these seats are offered on "pure" trains, that is, dedicated entirely to the Avant service, but the majority are on "synergized" trains, that is, on high-speed trains that travel longer distances and are assigned "a few, limited seats" with the Avant fare, Puivecino clarifies. "People want to go to Barcelona from Lleida, Figueres, or Tarragona, and right now, the early morning trains fill up quickly. With our proposal," the expert continues, "using very few additional resources, we would be able to offer many more seats." In fact, the report estimates that with the new CATAV network, the number of seats would increase from the current 10,324 to between 30,000 and 40,000, depending on the train model used. This would mean more than triple the number of seats available at present.

Puivecino criticizes the distribution of trains (and, therefore, seats) destined for Catalonia: "When this service began in Toledo, which has half the population of Lleida, they already had thirty pure trains in each direction. The same is true in Segovia, while in Lleida they only go to Lleida, and in Lleida they are only destined for Lleida. The same is true in Figueres," he complains, adding that the Madrid lines (with a similar volume of demand in Catalonia) have twice as many seats. "Furthermore, it is very striking that Renfe has 62 trains across the country to operate Avant services and that there are currently none of these types of trains operating in Catalonia, when the number of passengers here represents 13.7% of all Avant passengers in the country," he concludes.

And where would the trains needed to build this new network come from? Other parts of the country where they're not as necessary. "We don't need trains to be taken away from anyone. The agreements with the Generalitat already state that at least fourteen trains should have arrived in Catalonia, and we still don't have them... Therefore, what we need is for them to arrive now. With these fourteen pending trains, we could meet the current needs of the R16 and the new project we're proposing," argues Puive. "But until now, priority has been given to creating new trains in the rest of the country, and that's detrimental not only to the public but also to the companies that want to establish themselves here," he adds.

The Generalitat and Renfe embrace the proposal.

This week, at a railway conference organized by the union itself, Pere Macias, the Generalitat's Commissioner for the Comprehensive Transfer of Commuter Trains, applauded the proposal and the content of the study. "I congratulate Alberto for the proposal; it's very reasonable," Macias admitted, while asserting that the Catalan railway strategy already includes "reorganizing the Avant trains" that originate and terminate in Catalonia, in other words, along the lines proposed in the CCOO report. "The proposal is welcome," agreed Antonio Carmona, spokesperson and head of Institutional Relations for Renfe in Catalonia, who clarified that the final decision rests with the Ministry of Transport.

Comisiones Obreras already has several meetings scheduled with the Regional Ministry of Territory to study the feasibility of the project. And the sentiment, at least, "is good." "The dialogue with the Generalitat is swift and fluid; I hope they embrace it and officially demand it in Madrid," says Puivecino, who clarifies that they are proposing Renfe as the operator because "currently, FGC doesn't have enough trains or personnel to meet the proposal."