The public address system announces the imminent arrival of the train. Users, spread along the platform, stretch their necks. One two Three. Three carriages instead of the usual six. Between some insults, the races begin. The travelers crowd around hoping that they have got the spot right, that the doors of one of the three cars will fall nearby. The train stops. Passengers get off, some with bikes, others with children, elderly people and some suitcases. Then the conquest of the wagon begins. Only two people sit. The train arrives late and full. The rest, trapped in the hallway and on the platform (an hour and twenty of walking awaits them). They are so packed that some travelers can no longer get on.
Over the past few weeks, this scene has become common. Especially in the mornings at the Tarragona, Altafulla and Torredembarra stations in the direction of Barcelona and then in the opposite direction. And also on Sunday afternoons, when hundreds of students from the Tarragona region take the train to Barcelona and have to let them pass because they don’t fit.
Renfe recognizes incidents on these stretches and attributes them to the improvement works (until summer they will affect the section between Vilanova i la Geltrú and Castelledefels due to renewal of the tracks), to the works of the Mediterranean Corridor and also to the fact that “regional trains accumulate many years and generate many breakdowns.” Without being able to specify the extent of this reduction in carriages, the same sources warn that the replacement of these older trains is not planned until 2026 or 2027.
Precisely the three-car trains (instead of the double composition ones) have unleashed the indignation of many passengers. The continuous incidents and the consequent delays that the R14, R15 and R16 have been experiencing for months (they all pass through Tarragona) have resulted in the creation of numerous WhatsApp groups in which, due to the lack of information from Renfe, they are the passengers themselves who report on the progress of the trains.
With the worsening of the service, several of these users created, a month ago, the Dignitat a les Vies Platform. They organized a first protest last Sunday in front of Tarragona station and since then they have met with parties and politicians (the pre-election campaign helps) to demand urgent improvements in the service. Even the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, referred this week to the incidents, attributing them to the works, the accidents (for example, the one that on Tuesday caused the passengers of the train that had left at 9:30 p.m. from Sants to arrive at one in the morning to Tarragona), the theft of material and incivility. The reaction of the platform has not been long in coming. “We understand that works are being done, but what we denounce is an endemic, chronic problem that dates back a long time and that the minister seems not to know about,” maintains Anna Gómez, one of the promoters of the platform.
“When a train comes with only three cars, that has nothing to do with cable theft or accidents. When a train gets stuck in Barcelona because there is a funnel, it has nothing to do with robbery or accidents. When a catenary falls it has nothing to do with this… and so on, many more incidents,” adds Gómez. The platform has released a statement: “We have no patience or confidence; “We need both immediate solutions and solutions in view of the closure of the Roda de Barà tunnel scheduled for September.”
Renfe also highlights the increase in users that the entire Rodalies Regional service is registering. During February there were 809,000 travelers, 15% more than the same month in 2023, and forecasts point to an increase during the summer, when tourists from the Costa Daurada travel by train to visit Barcelona and Barcelona residents also travel by train. to go to the beaches or visit Port Aventura. Furthermore, the service will be significantly altered again starting in September, when work on the corridor between Sant Vicenç and Torredembarra begins, which will force passengers to travel between these two towns by bus.
This weekend’s works – they are planned at night or outside of work hours to reduce their impact – will involve today and tomorrow the diversion of 50% of the regional trains through Vilafranca (which will increase the journey by about 45 minutes) and single track between Prat de Llobregat and Gavà for the actions on the new access branch to the airport.
