Natàlia Vila: "Infrastructure projects are not very electorally profitable, since the results are not seen within the same legislative term."

«How are you? I'm Natàlia Vila, a journalist in charge of the infrastructure and mobility section at ARA. My job mainly consists of explaining and monitoring the management and operation of the commuter rail network in Catalonia." This is how she addressed the Telegram group of ARA Award subscribers“Trains take up about 75% of my time under normal circumstances… but in the last three weeks, the situation has consumed all my hours, as well as those of many colleagues who have joined this team as reinforcements to be able to report everything as accurately as possible,” she added. It was the day of the Renfe and Adif staff strike, which further aggravated the crisis. Natàlia Vila highlighted the main factors: “Many decades of political decisions that have prioritized high-speed rail over commuter rail, a lack of maintenance—experts and train drivers say the methods used are questionable—and, of course, a failure to implement the budgeted investments.” She added that it is an additional difficulty “to make decisions 600 kilometers away.”

When asked by subscriber Carles Sánchez whether Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC) is capable of taking over the entire country's rail network, Natàlia Vila pointed out that "FGC's management model has a key difference compared to Cercanías Renfe. At FGC, the management of the trains and tracks belongs to the same company, and this is evident in the coordination. FGC is a model that works and is gradually preparing to assume more responsibilities," she commented. She specified that "FGC's network is much smaller than Cercanías' (which has more than 1,100 kilometers of track) and therefore easier to manage. To take over Cercanías, FGC would need to acquire resources it currently lacks: personnel, equipment, machinery, etc."

“When we talk about infrastructure, we always talk about issues (construction projects, planning, etc.) that are long-term projects, and electorally speaking, that's not the most profitable approach because the results aren't seen within the current legislative term. But it's essential to address it, especially in a context of population growth, gentrification (which forces us to live far from where we work), and intensive use of this infrastructure,” he emphasized. “It will take many years and a lot of money to modernize the network,” he summarized.

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