Tram postpones Diagonal service launch due to workers' strike

Barcelona's Tram has postponed the first day of service on the Diagonal Avenue between Glòries square and Verdaguer station due to a workers' strike.

The first trip will now take place on Sunday instead of Saturday.

After learning that the transport authorities had delayed the launch until the following day, workers' unions decided to call off the strike; however, hours later, they said that the strike was still happening but that their demonstration was canceled.

The Catalan presidency ministry stated that they had to postpone the first trip due to the "impossibility" of guaranteeing the service in "normal conditions."

The new tram will start its service on Sunday at 5 am, and the authorities' trip and speeches scheduled for Saturday have also been postponed.

Workers' unions had announced to go on strike in both lines, the Trambaix and Trambesòs, on Saturday, coinciding with the launch of the new service.

Unions claimed that the company's resources have remained the same while there are six times more passengers than when the service was launched over 20 years ago.

Officials had required at least 33% of operations as minimum services, and workers denounced that the company was trying to force them to call off the strike in memory of those "dead and impacted with the DANA in Valencia."

This translates as one tram per every three scheduled, without extra service on rush hour as it is Saturday.