BarcelonaThe headaches for the thousands of users of Rodalies last for at least one more day and the service will not return to normal this Wednesday either. Renfe’s spokesperson, Antonio Carmona, explained this Tuesday evening that the same rail offer is maintained, but two sections are reinforced with alternative transport: the R8 buses will cover the entire route from Martorell to Granollers Centre. In addition, an additional bus service will be offered between Valls and Camp de Tarragona in the morning and in the afternoon that will connect with the medium-distance train to go to Barcelona.
So, far from returning to the normality promised since Monday, these Wednesdays there will still be 11 lines that are experiencing cuts and, therefore, they will be completed by road, with buses. They are lines R1, RG1, R3, R4, RL4, R7, R8, R13, R14, R15 and RT1. Only the R2 Nord, R2 Sud, R11, R16 and R17 operate on all sections. Apart from the two reinforcements in the alternative bus services, Carmona also explained that they are studying improvements for the R3 line to “minimize transfers and improve travel times for travelers who go beyond Vic, towards Puigcerdà”.
The only change in the Rodalies network compared to the situation last weekend is that, since Monday, train service has been restored on the section of the R11 line that goes from Figueres to Portbou. This Tuesday morning train traffic was affected by two falls of the Adif control center that caused the total suspension of traffic for a few minutes, and the administrator of the railway infrastructure has not yet given details of why it happened. “This is a breakdown very similar to the one that happened last Monday”, said Carmona, who also assured that there are already technicians working to ensure that this situation “does not happen again”.
After another day without improvements in the service, the Government has demanded from Adif and Renfe that they solve the situation as soon as possible to at least “stabilize” Rodalies. Since this afternoon, the Secretary of State for Transport, José Antonio Santano, has been in Barcelona, who has already held the first meetings with the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque; the commissioner for the transfer of Rodalies, Pere Macias, and the new director of Rodalies, Òscar Playà, among others.
