Rodalies R4 and R7 Run 30 Minutes Late After Copper Theft
Rodalies R4 and R7 trains are running about 30 minutes late after a cable theft at Fabra i Puig and late drivers. Here is what caused it and what is next.
Trains on the R4 line of Rodalies, the commuter rail network around Barcelona, are running about 30 minutes late on average on Friday morning, according to Renfe, the state rail operator. Renfe blames two separate problems: drivers who did not reach their trains on time and a new copper theft on railway equipment.
The theft happened at Fabra i Puig. Renfe warned that trains may be held at a standstill as they approach the affected spot, and 3Cat reports that the R7 line has delays too.
A stolen cable near Fabra i Puig
According to 3Cat, the stolen cable affects the signaling on the stretch between Fabra i Puig station and Montcada Bifurcació. Signaling is the system that tells drivers whether the track ahead is clear, so trains slow down or wait when it fails.
Adif, the public company that manages the rail infrastructure, told 3Cat that its crews are working to fix the fault. Ara describes the incident as one more copper theft on infrastructure run by Adif. No repair time has been given.
Drivers arriving late to their trains
The second cause is operational. Ara reports that, as in previous days, some Renfe drivers have not turned up at the scheduled time. The newspaper links this to a labor dispute between drivers and the company. Last Saturday it ended with the repeal of the company agreements, and operations have been disrupted since then.
Seven days of trouble
3Cat counts Friday as the seventh day in a row with incidents on Renfe services. The week began with a chaotic weekend. On Monday, delays hit every Rodalies line even though no protest had been called.
On Tuesday, drivers from the Semaf union held a strike, and minimum services were not respected. The Generalitat (the Catalan government) said it would investigate that failure until the end. A general strike followed on Wednesday.
Semaf has since postponed a second day of driver strikes, now planned for the 23rd. Even so, Thursday was another day of disruption. Renfe said many drivers arrived late because there were not enough taxis to take them to the place where their shifts begin. The taxi sector rejected that account: it said all 80 requested services were carried out, and that up to 30 drivers simply did not show up. The two versions have not been reconciled.
What this means for Rodalies riders
People who use the R4 and R7 face an average delay of 30 minutes this morning, and trains that stop short of the damaged stretch can add to that. Because two causes overlap, a repair at Fabra i Puig would not by itself clear the late-driver problem that Renfe describes. Passengers can look up line-by-line disruption on the service status page that 3Cat links to. Background on lines, tickets and delay refunds is in our guide to Rodalies trains in Barcelona.
What to watch next
Adif has not said when the signaling will be restored. The next scheduled step in the labor conflict is the postponed Semaf driver strike on the 23rd, and the Generalitat’s inquiry into the unmet minimum services is still open.
