The large amount of works that are being carried out in Rodalies have increased the number of serious incidents in the railway network to exceed 525 during 2022, according to the Generalitat, which starts from the data provided by the railway infrastructure administrator himself (Adif). That is, more than one incident every day (specifically, 1.4 on average per day) which meant delays of more than 100 minutes on some circulation, the bar that is technically defined to qualify an incident as serious.
The Minister of Territory, Juli Fernández, considers the figure alarming and emphasizes that “in ten years it has gone from 330 serious incidents per year to more than 525”. They are 59% more than a decade ago, although the department has ruled out providing the detailed data to place them on the map or in the calendar.
To the serious incidents we must add the minor ones (of more than a quarter of an hour) attributable to technical problems of the trains or the facilities but also to issues such as acts of vandalism, suicides and other problems that can affect normality in the railway service. “We have incidents eight out of ten days, this is why there is so much demand to have the powers”, said the Minister of Territory in the interview published in La Vanguardia on Sunday, in which he once again claimed the transfer whole of the Rodalies service.
The increase in incidents is closely linked to the increase in works that the Ministry of Transport has underway to improve the reliability of the network. For example, for months travelers on the R4 line have been suffering delays due to the works being carried out in Castellbisbal, which will significantly improve reliability on this section with a new tunnel and will, at the same time, be the gateway to Europe for in the Mediterranean corridor. The burial of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, for its part, has forced for a few weeks to circulate on the single track between Molins de Rei and Cornellà and the travelers of the line these days are assuming that they will have to live with delays for many months more or less everyday.
The works that alter the normality of the account are part of the Rodalies 2020-2030 plan. Sources from Renfe emphasize that “the evolution of the plan is positive, with an increasing pace in tenders and awards, as well as in the production and approval of projects corresponding to the scheduled actions”. According to the data made public by the company at the beginning of this same year, the Ministry of Transport has already awarded 43% of the bulk of the planned investment before 2025 and 34.7% of the 2,203 million euros promised until 2030
Aside from the works, from the public company they also accuse an increase in vandalism as one of the reasons that end up having an impact on commuter passengers. All in all, Renfe is shielded by the 93% punctuality rate awarded by a report drawn up by the French Ministry of Ecological Transition, in which different European cities are compared between 2018 and 2020, which places it above London, Dublin, Brussels and Milan.
“Almost 300,000 trains run every year, any transport system with this volume of mobility and circulation is impossible not to have an incident throughout the day”, justify Renfe sources, who understand by incident an untimely train that is reported on social networks, a fact that is normal for all operators. It is enough to take a look at the service information posts of the operators on social networks in the last few hours to confirm that Joseps, Johns and donkeys are in every house. Yesterday Rodalies did not register any noteworthy problems and, on the other hand, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat saw the service disrupted throughout the morning due to a collision on the Llobregat-Anoia line and another on the Vallès line, where incidents have skyrocketed since the time change in force since December.
