The SEMAF drivers’ union, UGT, Renfe, Adif, and the Catalan Government reached a deal today to restart Rodalies services, which had been suspended following Tuesday’s fatal accident in Gelida.
Drivers demanded written safety guarantees as a condition for returning to work, after what Transport authorities described as a mass walkout: only 6 out of 140 drivers reported for duty today, despite Adif declaring the network safe for operation. Drivers argue they all turned up, but safety conditions were not met.
The agreement includes visual inspections of all 13 lines, carried out by joint teams of Renfe, Adif, and union representatives, which have already begun.
The Minister for Territory, Sílvia Paneque, stated that service will be gradually restored as inspection results allow, without specifying exact timetables. Additionally, a monitoring committee will be set up to review safety improvements every two months.
Meanwhile, the Catalan Government has opened an information file against Renfe for failing to guarantee service despite previous commitments. To mitigate the disruption, interurban bus services have been reinforced (around a hundred buses, with 23 on the Barcelona-Baix Llobregat route and 11 on the Tarragona-Terres de l’Ebre route), tolls on the southern C-32 have been lifted, and the Low Emission Zone has been suspended.
Chaos has been total, with traffic jams into Barcelona worsened by rain. Rodalies, used by 400,000 people daily, is an essential mobility service for Catalonia.