If we pronounce Rodalies in Catalan it sounds with a musicality similar to Rosalía. But, if she were a singer, Rodalies would be a specialist in arrows, given the ordeal that train users in the Barcelona area have suffered for as long as we can remember. Delays are the order of the day. Any incident (or excuse) is good. One of the greatest hits for a time was the song "We have stolen the copper", although the song We have suffered sabotage is also a classic. Another success is Ask Adif or The tunnels can't do any more or It wasn't the cha-cha-chá's fault, but the storm. What would Rodalies' musical career be without that great song on Spotify that everyone sings and that begins by saying: "Who removes that tree from the road?"!!!
We are so used to all these musical hits by Rodalies that even the Renfe and Adif workers have signed up and have decided to compose their own musical background for the trains with the song Vamos a la strike, but this time they have added their own lyrics, which goes like this: "We are against the transfer of Rodalies to the Generalitat." So, since they don't want to stop being what they are, they have done the best they can, that is, causing delays themselves and annoying the long-suffering passengers of this railway service.
It is curious how, although the train was introduced in Spain through Catalonia, it is here where it works the worst 175 years later. And on October 28, 1848, the first railway line in the Iberian Peninsula was inaugurated, which ran the 30 kilometers from Mataró to Barcelona. It has rained a lot since then (now, not so much anymore), but above all, thousands and thousands of hours of delays, regrets, complaints and mecago-everything have accumulated from the users of the (apparently) highly-rated Rodalies service.
A priori, the fact that the Generalitat wants to assume the transfer of Rodalies should be a problem. It's terrible and on top of that they want to keep it. Have they gone crazy in Plaça Sant Jaume? And why were the workers opposed? Let's see if with the change of hands now it gives those in the Government to want to do things well... It is a reasonable doubt. But, it is also no guarantee that Rodalies will work well in the hands of the Generalitat. Railways do seem to be doing better, although until relatively recently there were still first and second class carriages (until the students who went like sardines to the university in Bellaterra rebelled).
The first facelift that was done to Rodalies, apart from changing the color of the train stickers, was to transform Cercanías precisely into "Rodalies". Was it a good idea to catalanize it like this? Well, let's see, "Cercanías" denotes, as its name indicates, something that is "close" to us. Instead, "Rodalies" refers us to something external, the "surroundings." Therefore, something more "distant". Was it wise to choose this name, then, when catalanizing the commuter train service?...
At the beginning of the 90s, a Renfe advertisement was broadcast that, precisely, used an arrow to make us understand that it was better to take the train to go to work than by car. The motto was Improve your lifestyle. And the phrase that remained in memory: "Dad, come by train!", thus avoiding traffic jams. The spot was a success and received awards in the world of advertising. But what they tell us is one thing and reality is another, because the real procession is what Rodalies users suffer. And it doesn't matter whose hands they are in. There is always a good excuse to ruin your day. Yes, Rodalies is a saeta singer without equal.
