New delays and cancellations on Rodalies commuter rail system due to strike

April 1 starts with another round of train disruptions and cancellations on the Rodalies commuter rail system due to a strike called by three labor unions. 

Specifically, trains on lines R2 South, R4, R3, and R1 have been canceled, while some trains on R7 have started running again, with one train leaving in one direction every hour.

The strike has also impacted five Renfe high-speed trains, resulting in cancellations of trips to Figueres, Madrid, Bilbao, and one from Madrid to Barcelona, while causing delays on other services, according to Renfe.

This morning, R7 commuters had to take the R4 from Fabra i Puig to Cerdanyola del Vallès, and from there, take a bus to the university campus.

Commuters starting their journey at Barcelona’s Plaça Catalunya should use the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC) commuter trains instead.

Disruptions impact 10,000 passengers every 2.5 days

The Catalan Rodalies commuter train network experienced a total of 553 major disruptions between the beginning of 2021 and August 2024, a month before construction work began in a tunnel in Roda de Berà, near Tarragona in southern Catalonia.

This means that, on average, there was a disruption every two and a half days, or every 60 hours, affecting over 10,000 Rodalies commuters, according to a response from the Catalan territory ministry to a parliamentary question by Junts.

The recount includes incidents caused by technical failures, unforeseen events such as accidents, obstructed train tracks, cable theft, shortage of train drivers, or temporary speed restrictions.