Outrage over Renfe's new fares: "I'll pay four times more for an 11-minute journey."
Free train tickets end at the end of June, and the new fares have some passengers on the warpath.
BarcelonaIn five weeks, free Renfe tickets will end. The discounts established to mitigate the effects of inflation three years ago are waning, and starting in July, people will have to pay again. Last February, the Secretary of Mobility of the Generalitat, Manel Nadal, explained in Parliament that starting in the summer, free travel would give way to a 20 euro flat rate for traveling with Cercanías. But with only a few days left until the new fare system is implemented, some users already believe it will generate a "comparative grievance" between municipalities. The reason? Well, those towns not served by the Cercanías (local rail) service—even if it's just for a few kilometers—will have to pay four or five times more for traveling just a little longer, one or two more stops.
"I'll have to pay four times more for traveling 10 minutes longer on the train," complains Òscar Ibáñez, 38, who lives in Altafulla (outside the Cercanías service limits) but takes the train every day to work in Barcelona. The same thing happens to Irene Gutiérrez: "According to the new prices, I'll go from paying zero to 92 euros, while in this time the service hasn't improved at all; on the contrary, it's worsened: there are more incidents due to construction work and more problems," she points out. For commuters in Reus, for example, the fare will rise to 112 euros, five times more than the Cercanías train.
This is because in December—as announced by the Ministry of Transport—the State decided to establish both the flat rate of 20 euros for Cercanías (common throughout the State) and that medium-distance passes would also cease to be free and would instead have a 40% discount on their usual price. In the case of Avant trains, the discount was set at 50%. And, in either case, the tickets are well above the 20 euros for Cercanías.
Thus, for example, unlimited travel between Barcelona and Sant Vicenç de Calders (56 kilometers) will cost 20 euros; but traveling to Altafulla or Torredembarra (68 kilometers) will cost 92 euros. And the same thing happens to the north: travel to Maçanet Massanes will be included in the flat rate, but to Caldes de Malavella (10 minutes more by train) it will cost more than 100.
A "comparative grievance"
"It's not fair; the difference isn't proportional because we're very close neighbors," argues Óscar, who adds: "In practice, Altafulla and Torredembarra function as distant commuter trains to Barcelona; many people go to work every day, and given the current housing prices, we have no other options."
"They had to draw the line somewhere, all right, but in the end it seems that the further you are from Barcelona, the less Catalan you are," summarizes Anna Gómez, spokesperson for the users' collective Dignitat a les Vies. "These differences make many users feel bad and are financially detrimental. There are bigger discounts for an Avant train, which is a more exclusive service, than for medium-distance regional trains, which in Catalonia operate as if they were all Cercanías," Gómez emphasizes.
This is the same argument made by the expert association Promoción del Transporte Público (PTP). "No one has considered that the regional system has a very different supply and demand in Catalonia than in the rest of the country," explains engineer and PTP spokesperson Arnau Comajoan. "The ministry hasn't taken into account that, here, the nature of the regional trains is more similar to a Cercanías (local service) than to any other regional service in Spain; and this is because there is a higher population density, more supply, and therefore more use," he adds.
Given this situation, the PTP is asking the Generalitat (Catalan government) to consider the possibility of including more population centers within the Cercanías (local service) flat rate or to establish limits determined by usage rather than by the technical names of the services. When asked by this newspaper, the Generalitat (Catalan government) states that it has several options on the table, but has not yet specified any.
Imaginative alternatives for not paying
"I've been living in Altafulla for three years, so now I'll have to budget that money for the first time," admits Òscar. Among his options to consider is traveling to Barcelona by another form of transportation, such as the bus. Another option some users are considering is transferring: buying a flat-fare ticket, traveling to Sant Vicenç de Calders, and once there, changing and paying for the regional bus, but only for two stops. "That's what we did when we were teenagers and didn't have a penny, but right now I'd rather not do it because it means wasting even more time than Renfe already takes from me every day," concludes Irene.
This year of transition in fare prices will also affect the price of integrated tickets for the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATM), although, in this case, the impact on users will be less than the changes to Cercanías and Renfe in general.
The 50% discounts on T-Usual and T-Jove, and on the discount rates for large or single-parent families, will remain in place throughout 2025, but starting in July, the discount percentages provided by the Spanish government and the Generalitat (Catalan government) will be exchanged: the State will pay 20% of the discounts, and the Generalitat will. At least that's what was decided last winter, with the discounts maintained until the end of the year, as promised by the Regional Minister for Territory, Silvia Paneque. However, the decision still needs to be ratified by the ATM board before the summer.