The first day of the strike called this week by the Spanish Union of Railway Machinists (Semaf) once again leaves images of passenger queues on platforms, trains with delays and non-compliance with minimum services in the Rodalies service in Catalonia.
A situation that occurs just over 48 hours before the start of the 29-N electoral campaign and that has caused the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, to say this morning that "the Government will act" to guarantee that the agreed frequencies are met.
The spokesperson for the Catalan Executive, Sílvia Paneque, has also spoken in statements to Catalunya Ràdio and has assured that the Generalitat will require Renfe "information on the non-compliance with minimum services during today's train drivers' strike and to open files to investigate the reason why many of the train drivers have not shown up" for their jobs. "We will be exhaustive," emphasized the Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition.
The Department of Business and Labor has decreed for this Tuesday minimum services in the railway service of 66% during peak hours (from 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) and 33% the rest of the day. Tomorrow, Wednesday the 11th, the day when a general strike is called, they will be 25% during peak hours and there will be no service during off-peak hours. On Thursday the second day of strike this week for the machinists will arrive, who will also stop for 24 hours on Tuesday of next week in a call that will coincide with that of the Railway Circulation Union.
This morning, between 6 and 9:30 a.m., only half of the scheduled trains had circulated on ordinary frequencies, instead of two out of three as scheduled. The director of Rodalies, Òscar Playà, has appealed to the "responsibility" of the Renfe train drivers to guarantee the railway service in Catalonia, although he has asked citizens to look for "alternative means of transport" in the face of "a complex week" because "the circulation of the trains stipulated in the minimum services cannot be guaranteed."
Yesterday, the president of Esquerra Republicana, Oriol Junqueras, criticized the PSC Government for "a management without ambition doomed to failure" and said that the socialists, among other issues, "have never been in a hurry to resolve the chaos in Rodalies." The general secretary of the party and candidate for Mayor of Barcelona, Elisenda Alamany, today directed criticism at the city's mayor, Jaume Collboni: "We have become accustomed to him not saying anything when Rodalies leaves thousands of Catalans stranded because the person who should manage this service is from his party." The number two of ERC added: "Barcelona needs a mayor who defends Barcelona, not the PSOE."
Yesterday, the headliner of Junts per Catalunya at Congress on 29-N, Míriam Nogueras, mentioned the deficiencies of the railway service in an electoral debate organized by the Pimec employers' association: "Rodalies does not work, we do not have a Mediterranean Corridor and the budgeted investments are not executed," said the vice president of JxCat.
