Metropolitan and Regional train services run chronically late in Catalonia

The punctuality of Spain’s Renfe trains has hit an all-time low in Catalonia, particularly in the case of the company’s Regional (mid-distance) services. This has become a systemic issue now, as shown by the figures we publish in today’s edition.

Only when there is a newsworthy service meltdown, with travellers facing massive delays, does the story in question make the morning headlines. Therefore, while admitting that it must have had far-reaching consequences, some might be tempted to shrug it off as a one-off incident and deny the systematic abuse that travellers are subjected to and the disruption it brings to their daily routine.

Nothing could be further from the truth, actually: 49.2 per cent of all Regional train services in Catalonia are never on time. That is half the trains on all six lines, according to figures from 2013. It is also 30 points below the company’s own punctuality target. The overall on-time score for the Metropolitan commuter lines is 86 per cent, 11 points short of Renfe’s goal. When you take into account the sheer number of trains serving the six Metropolitan lines, the number of passengers travelling into Barcelona city on each of them and the high frequency of the service, you soon realise that many commuters have been affected on a daily basis since 2013.

Needless to say, some issues are beyond Renfe’s control and the 2013 accident in Angrois (Galicia) did prompt a number of changes to the company’s safety protocols. Still, would the present situation be nearly as bad, if the pledged investments had actually been budgeted for? What if the earmarked funds had been spent, indeed? Would the company not have been in a better position to respond to such eventualities? Wouldn’t it have lessened the impact of any unforeseeable incidents?

At the end of the day, this is the result of not addressing the problem globally and, instead, simply patching up the holes one at a time. Once the disaster has become undeniable, they blame it on the fact that there are too many holes.

The current state of affairs is unacceptable, both in itself and more so because of the strategic role played by railway transport. No administration may consider redressing the demographic and economic balance of a country —or encourage the use of public transport to reduce pollution and attain sustainable mobility— unless train services are operated properly. Even less so, if said administration is unable to exert any influence on the management of the service.