Renfe investigates alleged sabotage from two workers in Rodalies commuter train service

Spain's public train operator, Renfe, is investigating two workers for an alleged sabotage in the Rodalies commuter train service on Tuesday. Due to the alleged sabotage, around 40 trains on the R1, R3, and R4 lines had to be canceled.

The operator claims that these two workers, who manage the service, gave wrong information to other employees. During the investigation, both workers have been removed from their duties, but they have not been suspended from pay or employment, as first reported by Spanish newspaper El Periódico and later confirmed by the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

The company believes misinformation also affected the service on March 26, coinciding with a 24-hour strike.

The affected trains did not run despite being scheduled to do so due to the mixed information received by drivers.

"These are actions that we will not tolerate, as these do not represent Renfe workers in Catalonia," Antonio Carmona, Rodalies director, said in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, the Sindicat Ferroviari workers' union, one of the small unions still backing the strike, criticized Renfe and the Catalan government for leaving the staff to face the "network's chaos" with "minimum investment and very few personnel."

For them, as shared in a message published on 𝕏, say that the delays and canceled trains are due to the "incompetence of Adif and Renfe managers who try to blame, once again, workers for the situation of the rail network."

Strike in Renfe

The Sindicat Ferroviari, as well as the Alternativa Ferroviària and the CGT, were the only three workers' unions backing the strike after major entities backed down after reaching a deal.

Labor unions had negotiated with the Catalan and Spanish governments and decided to call off the strike.

The planned nationwide strike was first organized to protest against the Rodalies commuter management transfer from Spanish to Catalan authorities.