The State is now creating a team to maintain the commuter rail network, where emergency work is needed on 31 sections.

BarcelonaThe chaotic situation on the commuter rail network has been entrenched for two weeks, and service continues to operate at half capacity. The paralysis of the rail network has triggered a mobility crisis and has once again brought the issue of commuter rail into sharp focus. the problems of funding and maintenance of the infrastructure of an essential means of transport, used by 400,000 passengers on both sides of the country. Faced with this criticism, and following his indefinite relocation to Catalonia, the Secretary of State for Transport, José Antonio Santano, announced this Wednesday that he will create a specific unit in Catalonia to reinforce the "preventive maintenance" of the Catalan rail system and "anticipate" potential incidents. For its part, the Catalan government (Generalitat) has detailed that the infrastructure manager, Adif, has already identified a total of 648 vulnerable points on the network that require inspections, primarily in cuttings, embankments, tunnels, bridges, platforms, and tracks, and that emergency work is needed on 31 sections.

According to sources familiar with the matter, as reported by ARA, coordination and monitoring efforts on the railway network have been intensified following the mobility crisis triggered by the storm, which claimed the life of a trainee train driver on the R4 line between Sadurní de Anoia and the R4. More than 400 technicians, under the direction of Adif – in coordination with the Catalan and Spanish governments – are carrying out inspections. in situ, On foot or by train, especially on sections near the coast or running through areas with a higher concentration of trenches or embankments, more than 500 assessments have already been completed. Approximately 60 percent of these assessments already have a technical report, according to the Generalitat, following a meeting between Santano and the Minister of Territory, Silvia Paneque, on Wednesday afternoon. Both administrations emphasize that a "continuous monitoring" program is being reinforced to immediately report the existence of "potential risks" on the commuter rail network and adopt the necessary technical preventative measures. They explained that, to date, work is underway on 31 sections and 91 points of the network where emergency repairs are "essential," primarily consisting of trench and embankment protection and track maintenance. There are also sections where speed reduction points have been identified. "This is a set of actions that we want to have a short-term impact on improving maintenance, especially preventive maintenance, and which I believe will improve the quality of commuter rail," Santano concluded. Adif explains that it carries out three types of maintenance on railway infrastructure: corrective maintenance, which is done when a fault is detected, at any time of day; predictive maintenance, which continuously monitors the infrastructure and the condition of the tracks, catenaries, and signaling and safety systems; and preventive maintenance, with scheduled inspections and on-site runs with machinery at night, between services. At this point, the operator assures that it carries out comprehensive evaluations and scheduled trips with machinery to inspect, redistribute, and compact the ballast (the stones on the tracks).

However, according to knowledgeable sources, the teams operate in a scattered and reactive manner, meaning they only respond once an incident has been reported and could (or already is) causing a service disruption. These sources accuse the operator of poor maintenance. In fact, experts and workers in the sector add that in recent years there has been outsourcing and subcontracting of maintenance work, with teams experiencing high turnover and lacking knowledge of the area and its surroundings. As an example, they point out that on the commuter rail lines, inspection vehicles do not run daily, unlike on the high-speed lines.

In-house technicians on lines R1, R2, and R4

A few days ago they jointly announced that more than 1.34 billion euros would be allocated tomaintenance of the infrastructure, "double" compared to the last five years. But the avalanche of criticism directed at the sector regarding deficiencies in the work carried out so far—which falls exclusively to Adif—has intensified in recent weeks. Now, the Ministry of Transport has created a division that will report to Adif's maintenance sub-directorate and will work in coordination with the Commuter Rail Plan Technical Office, comprised of members of the Catalan government and the state infrastructure manager itself, to reinforce these maintenance efforts that must prevent disruptions to train service. Theoretically, this newly created unit should increase Adif's resources to anticipate system problems like those that have triggered the crisis of recent weeks. According to the ministry headed by Óscar Puente, this new unit, named the preventive maintenance division, will be independent of Adif's prevention teams. "Due to the complexity of the network in Catalonia, as well as the impact of climate change on the infrastructure, the Ministry has taken these technical decisions to strengthen Adif's structure in Catalonia," the Spanish government said in a statement, adding that there will be "specialized technicians." This, in theory, should allow the administration to gain the necessary resources to improve infrastructure reviews and assessments. In this regard, the Spanish government announced that technical operational teams will be activated to work, within their exclusive areas of expertise, on the main commuter rail lines, R1, R2, and R4, as well as the Barcelona tunnels. It also announced an increase of 30 public sector jobs to reinforce operational staff in Catalonia. "To have a short-term impact on improving service quality," the Spanish government explained. The Secretary of State has said that "in a matter of days in some cases and weeks in others," the commuter rail network will "fully return to normal." For now, the headaches for thousands of commuter rail users will continue for at least another day. A full return to normal service is not expected at this time.

Renfe removes its Director of Innovation

Further changes have also taken place at the top of Renfe amidst the ongoing rail crisis: the operator announced on Wednesday that it is removing Sonia Araujo, the current Director General of Innovation, Sustainability, and Digital Transformation, from her position. Company sources described the change as a "routine management decision," following reports of disagreements between Araujo and her superiors. Renfe maintains that the technology area remains "fundamental" to the company and emphasizes its readiness to "face the upcoming challenges" in digitalization and sustainability. Renfe highlighted the "significant" work Araujo has carried out for the company throughout her career and confirmed that she will "continue to collaborate" with the rail operator in "other areas of responsibility." In other words, she will remain with the company. However, this is the second change at Renfe since the outbreak of the mobility crisis in Catalonia. Renfe had already dismissed the chief operating officer of Cercanías (commuter rail), Josep Enric Garcia Alemany; a position that has now been assumed by [name missing]. Òscar Playà, the newly appointed CEO of Cercanías Cataluña, the new company that will take over the Cercanías commuter rail service.