A rail infrastructure failure in Barcelona this Thursday has caused stoppages and delays in a large part of Catalonia's notorious 'Rodalies' regional network, particularly affecting lines R1, R2, R2 Nord, R3 and R4. All of this has caused a venting of indignation from users who denounced the poor management of the service, run by the Spanish public rail operator Renfe and infrastructure manager Adif. Along the same lines, several members of the Catalan government joined the complaints. The territorial minister, Ester Capella, regretted the "constant incidents" in Rodalies, which she attributed to a "manifest desire by the Spanish government not to carry out the investments to which it has committed". Via her social media accounts, Capella recalled that of the 24 days in this month of August, the Rodalies network has had problems on 23 of them, and she denounced the "massive impact" of the problem this Thursday on lines R1, R2, R2 North, R3 and R4.
The minister remarked that the problems in Rodalies affect the lives of thousands of people every day and reiterated the long-standing demand of the Catalan government for the "full transfer of the service, tracks, catenaries, rolling stock, and the necessary financial contribution" to the Generalitat. Citing Capella's tweet, the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, supported her demands and complaint: "Again, the Spanish state fails to show respect for Rodalies users. Again, a breakdown that demonstrates the lack of investment and their inability to manage the network in Catalonia. It's incomprehensible!"
In addition, Aragonès added: "We will take the measures necessary in the face of the permanent disarray. And we will continue to demand full powers to manage Rodalies rail transport. The public is fed up with a second-rate service". As well, the Catalan presidency minister, Laura Vilagrà, criticized the breakdowns and also asserted that "the only solution is the transfer". "It's shameful!" said the ERC politician in a tweet this Thursday.
Widespread effects
The movement of trains on lines R1, R2, R2 Nord, R3 and R4 was restored this Thursday at 12:30pm. "An incident in the rail infrastructure of one of the tunnels in Barcelona's Plaça Catalunya", as explained by Adif, caused delays to a number of trains on the commuter services. The incident occurred at 9:15am this Thursday and caused delays and service disruptions of more than 40 minutes. The lines affected by this incident were the R1 (Hospitalet de Llobregat- Maçanet Massanes), the R2 (Granollers Centre- Castelldefels), the R2 Nord (Maçanet Massanes- Airport), the R3 (Hospitalet de Llobregat- Puigcerdà) and the R4 (Sant Vicenç de Calders-Manresa).