On Monday, March 3, Renfe and Adif called a 7-day strike over alleged breaches in the transfer of the commuter rail service in Catalonia, Rodalies, to the Generalitat. Two weeks later, the two railway companies, the Ministry of Transport and the Generalitat have reached an agreement whereby the protests have been cancelled.
The strike would have meant, only in its first five days, that 1,383 high speed, long and medium distance trains would not be able to operate. In addition, 720 commuter trains in Catalonia would have been affected.
The agreement took place on March 16, just hours before the first train cancellations due to the strike. Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) has given the go-ahead for the Catalan rail service not to leave the Renfe group. There will be a new mixed company to operate the commuter network, but the majority of its shares will be state-owned, not belonging to the Generalitat.
ERC has clarified that the attachment of the new company to the Renfe Group will be maintained for a limited time: the party advocates that there will be a “100% Catalan” company to manage Rodalies in the future. For the time being, the agreement will be maintained in order to respond to the needs of the railway service workers.