Disarray on commuter trains despite the cancellation of the train drivers' strike

BarcelonaThe calling off the strike in extremis Last night, however, this Monday morning, a working day, there was still a schedule disruption and some trains cancelled on Renfe's commuter service. The operator itself announced this on its usual information channels.

Since the service began early this morning, trains have been cancelled at several stations, as well as schedule disruptions linked to the fact that the agreement was reached late yesterday, at night, and that, although most unions called off the strike, there are still some who .

At 8 a.m., a new technical incident on the network, this time at the Plaça de Catalunya facilities, caused even more complications with delays on lines R1, R3, and R4. However, at 9:30 a.m., Civil Protection decided to activate the pre-alert phase of the Ferrocat plan "due to various impacts," especially on lines R4 North and R1 "where passengers are accumulating at stations."

The truth is that since early this morning, users at different points on the network, such as Sants, Bellvitge, Vallès Occidental, and also Tarragona and northern Catalonia, have expressed their outrage on social media over the cancellation of some convoys without prior notice.

Agreement for the new subsidiary to remain within Renfe

Yesterday's last-minute agreement helped avoid even greater chaos on the rail network this Monday, but the parties were already warning that the service could still suffer problems. The document agreed upon by the majority unions of Renfe and Adif and the Spanish and Catalan governments establishes that it will allow "the planned rail services to be provided almost completely normally," but it also issues a warning: on the one hand, that not all unions have decided to cancel the strike, and on the other, that it agrees that not all unions were given the time of day so that they would not be given the time of day.

According to Andrés Rubio, union spokesperson for the Renfe works council, "the problem with the rail network in Catalonia lies in the lack of investment." He expressed this in statements to Catalunya Ràdio, where he also stated that it is a point they have defended "in spite of all the protests" made by the train drivers' group. Rubio believes that the Generalitat's commitment to sign a new program contract—something that has eluded them for eight years, he emphasized—will enable much-needed investments and materials to be unblocked.

Pressure from workers has also ensured that, when the transfer of the first line, the R1, is formalized, the new management company, Cercanías Catalunya SA, will continue, for the time being, under the umbrella of the Renfe Group as a subsidiary for an unspecified period. This company will be jointly managed by the Catalan government and the operator, Renfe. Furthermore, the state-owned company will hold a majority stake in the new company, while the Catalan government will control the board of directors and, in practice, its management: it will hold the presidency and the casting vote, as announced yesterday by the Secretary of State for Transport, José Antonio Santano.

The document also specifies that the new subsidiary "will be part of the Renfe Group with respect and guarantee of labor rights, including the application of the Group's collective bargaining agreement," as well as other current labor agreements. Thus, workers will not be affected by aspects they considered key, such as seniority or mobility between destinations. Point 4 of the text makes it clear that Adif and Renfe workers have the right "to voluntarily decide to remain" in these two state-owned public companies.

"It's important that it remain within Renfe because what we understood was that what was wanted was to create another company, and that generates multiple costs," argues Rubio, of the Renfe works council. "Furthermore, although working conditions are initially maintained, when a company is split off, the conditions are maintained only for a limited time, and then agreements have to be renegotiated, and that's what we didn't want; of course not," added the union spokesperson, who described the agreement as "sensible" and "balanced" for all parties.

The regional minister for Territory, Silvia Paneque, confirmed that the Generalitat is "satisfied" with the agreement that allowed the strike to be called off and recalled that preserving labor rights was a commitment of the government. However, Paneque emphasized some points. "The transfer is a political agreement we maintain and want to make to improve the service. We want better governance [of the rail network] with a Catalan company that makes decisions locally and responds to an endemic problem," the minister said on Catalunya Ràdio.

"What is certain is that I have insisted that there are some errors that must begin to decrease immediately," Paneque emphasized. The minister was referring to Monday's problems, which forced the cancellation of several trains, and also to the incidents that accumulated in Plaça Catalunya. "These errors must be reduced immediately, and this morning we must work to preserve services as quickly as possible," she reiterated.