Rodalies Delays Hit R1, R2 and R4 as Renfe Scraps Drivers’ Local Bases

Commuter trains around Barcelona ran off schedule for a second day on Sunday, with Renfe reporting delays on the R1, R2 Sud, R2 Nord, R2, R4, R11 and Regionals Sud lines because of what it called an “operational incident.” The R8 was also disrupted, with possible delays of more than half an hour after an infrastructure fault at Rubí station.

Union sources and several reports link the disruption to a change Renfe imposed on train drivers’ working conditions, according to El Nacional. On Saturday the same change led to dozens of cancelled trains and delays of over two hours on several lines in the Barcelona area.

Drivers lose their bases outside Barcelona

Renfe has ended the system in which Rodalies (Catalonia’s commuter rail network) drivers could start their shifts at bases spread around the metropolitan area, such as Vilanova i la Geltrú, Montcada, Mataró, Granollers and Terrassa. Those bases were removed overnight, the union sources said. Staff must now travel to Barcelona at any hour and then take a taxi back out to the point where their service begins.

The radio programme Via lliure on RAC1 first reported the change on Saturday. Drivers told the station they have no way to reach their newly assigned base to take trains out, and that they do not know how service will be kept running in the coming days. Renfe itself described the problems as incidents involving drivers and trains that are under analysis.

The impact has fallen mainly on the R1, R2 and R4, since the new rules apply to Rodalies and largely spare Regional services.

A dispute that started with safety agreements

The conflict follows an internal letter from Semaf, the train drivers’ union, to Renfe’s leadership in Catalonia and the head of Rodalies. In it, the union accused the company of repeatedly breaking agreements, including only partly applying the safety measures agreed after the Gelida accident, such as the conditions for restarting traffic after storms. Semaf also objected to 2027 work calendars being sent out without being negotiated with staff representatives.

According to the same sources, management answered by tearing up existing working agreements, including the decentralised shifts. Unions call the move illogical from an operational point of view and see it as a pressure tactic. They also say the new rosters create shifts of up to 30 hours with nights spent away from home.

Passengers stranded on the R1

The R1 coastal line was among the worst hit. On X, passengers said the real waits were far longer than the 30 minutes Renfe announced. One user wrote that no train had stopped at Canet de Mar for more than two hours, and others reported a similar gap in early-morning service toward Barcelona. Many also complained about the lack of information on when normal service would return.

At Sants station, 140 members of the Castellers de Sants, the human-tower team known as the Borinots, were left stuck on the platform. They had been due in Mataró for a castells performance at 11.30 in the plaça de Santa Maria, organised by the Capgrossos de Mataró. The group blamed “the deficient service and the non-existent information” from Rodalies in a post on X.

Source: go.eln.cat