The extra travel times that Rodalies users are forced to take as a result of the 12-M incident are expensive. Pimec estimates that the labor cost generated by the restrictions on the railway service, which can last two months, as a result of the theft of copper cable in Montcada-Bifurcació which caused an overvoltage and several fires in the network, is 2 .2 million euros daily. This employers’ association, which brings together micro, small and medium-sized companies, as well as the self-employed in Catalonia, has also calculated the impact of this setback on the general economy in terms of productivity. In this case, the bill is more onerous: 3.2 million per day.
In the study, released yesterday, it was determined that there are 122,500 travelers who suffer from delays and that their average duration is 40 minutes per day. The most affected are the users of lines R3 (l’Hospitalet-Barcelona-Vic-Puigcerdà, 27,000) and R4 (Sant Vicenç-Vilafranca-Barcelona-Manresa, 134,000). Those of R7 (Fabra i Puig-UAB) and R12 (l’Hospitalet-Manresa-Lleida), also affected by the same problem, are much fewer.
The passenger figures that the study takes into account, obtained from the Rodalies website, are slightly higher than those of the operator, Renfe, which is more up-to-date: 25,000 on the R3 and 120,000 on the R4. Although in the latter, the 50,000 in the northern section – the line has been split in two following the incident – are the most clearly affected, as the frequency of train passes has worsened. The report of the business organization subtracts from the total number of passengers those who do not work by applying the Catalan unemployment rate. This brings us to 122,500 who, in one way or another, suffer from the increase in travel time. The 40 minute delay arises from the various testimonies collected by the media, as there is no other data available on this matter.
To calculate the labor cost caused by the restrictions of Rodalies, estimated at 2.2 million euros per day, the report has taken into account what corresponds to each worker in Catalonia (gross salary and social contributions are included ), which is 27 euros per hour (0.45 euros per minute). “In the first days it was mainly assumed by the companies, since the affected workers arrived late due to the lack of information; but with the passing of the days, the latter have taken over by devoting more time to their journeys”, Moisès Bonal, director of studies and economic analysis at Pimec, explained to La Vanguardia. In any case, he pointed out, “they are opportunity costs of the economy as a whole”.
The second aspect studied is that of productivity, which entails a daily bill of 3.2 million. In this case, GDP per worker has been used (39.20 euros per hour; 0.65 euros per minute). “It’s a different approach – comments Bonal – which also gives us an idea of how delays affect the economy”. This head of Pimec recalls other aspects derived from the 12-M incident such as “the discomfort of having to open a business late or that a production chain does not work well because someone did not arrive on time”.
Given the seriousness of the events, Pimec urged through a statement “to adopt effective measures to prevent these situations from recurring in the future”. In this sense, he advocated putting synthetic DNA markers on copper cables, as has been done in Germany’s railway network, which has significantly reduced the theft of this material. This system consists of a marking with micro dots visible only with ultraviolet light that identifies the owner and makes it difficult to sell it after it is stolen.
Apart from these restrictions, Rodalies continues to suffer setbacks that affect the service. Just yesterday, the breakdown of a train at the Passeig de Gràcia station, around 3.30pm, caused delays on the R2 south and north lines and R11 which in some cases exceeded 60 minutes.