The data made public on incidents in the Rodalies network reveal a lack of train drivers at Renfe that directly affects the service offered to passengers. Of the 17,667 circulations affected by serious incidents (of more than 100 minutes) during 2022, 3,089 are attributed to a lack of driving personnel at the start or relief, according to data provided by the Department of Territory of the Generalitat to Eldiario .is . That is, 17% of the total number of trains that left late, according to the information published at the request of the Commission for the Guarantee of Access to Public Information (GAIP) and that puts the magnifying glass on the 60% increase in serious incidents in the last ten years advanced by La Vanguardia two weeks ago.
Renfe sources reduce the number of trains affected to 2,050 in the global calculation of Rodalies de Catalunya and point out that 90% of them were concentrated during the first four months of the year, when the omicron variant of the covid wreaked havoc and put the train in trouble. public operator due to the large number of casualties that coincided on specific days and the numerous retirements that occurred last year.
Apart from this, the bulk of the incidents suffered by the service are attributed to problems related to the infrastructure. The most serious so far this year is the one that took place in Gavà on May 1, where work continues to repair the burned interlocking that is causing significant damage to the R2 Sud line and the regional lines that connect Barcelona with Tarragona and the Ebre.
The general director of Conservation and Maintenance of the railway infrastructure administrator (Adif), Ángel Contreras, was in charge yesterday of explaining the causes and the works in progress to the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and the regional minister, Juli Fernández ( more information on page 11). Although the Generalitat denies the hypothesis that lightning was the cause of the fire that destroyed the infrastructure based on a report from the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya, Contreras maintains the electrical device as the main line of work for the investigation of the causes, as defended the Secretary General of Infrastructures, Xavier Flores, last week. Of course, it could have fallen a few days before and some other element could have made it jump later.
Be that as it may, in the coming days the final report will be released, which will be complemented by the audit commissioned by the Generalitat. Adif maintains the forecast of restoring normal service in about three weeks, although it still has a lot of work ahead. "You have to change 18,000 meters of burned cable, the uninterruptible power supply systems, the track circuit... but luckily the electronic system was protected and has not suffered serious incidents," Contreras said in front of the booth where he is located. the interlock, still smelling of burning.
