Renfe has executed a change of direction with the almost simultaneous replacement of two general directors and the director of Rodalies.
Josep Enric García Alemany takes over the management of Rodalies after the dismissal of Antonio Carmona, who is now in charge of institutional relations and spokesman in Catalonia.
Carmona, highly valued by the workforce and Catalan public opinion, is definitively removed from management after the arrival of Álvaro Fernández Heredia as president, who has imposed a profound reshuffle on the company without first reaching a consensus with the Generalitat.
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This change is in addition to the sudden shift in the general management of Renfe Viajeros, where Rafael Cortés, from the bus company Avanza and appointed only nine months ago, is leaving his position to be replaced by Miguel Ángel Vicente, a veteran of the company with two decades of experience in the public operator.
Vicente’s promotion represents a turnaround after months of controversy due to the massive incorporation of external managers, many of whom are from the bus sector, including Antonio García Pastor and Clara Moreno Gómez, who were signed from Avanza, together with more than a dozen names from outside the railway sector. Recently, El Economista dealt in detail with these incorporations.
Renfe itself admits that Cortés’ departure is “by agreement”, although internal sources point to a challenging working environment in the passenger subsidiary. The arrival of external managers, combined with the tensions and successive incidents in the network, has generated mistrust and unease among the traditional staff, who observe that professionals with rail experience no longer occupy key positions. Vicente’s appointment is welcomed in the sector as a sign of a possible change of trend.
In addition to these movements, Imanol Leza has taken over the management of Renfe Mercancías, following several months as interim director and amid a review of the subsidiary’s future. Leza, with over thirty years of experience in mobility and public management, becomes the fifth director of Renfe Mercancías in ten years and now faces the challenge of closing the alliance with Medlog, a subsidiary of the MSC shipping company. Until now, he was responsible for Renfe’s French market.