The agreement signed yesterday served for the latter to call off the railway system strike that they were going to maintain until tomorrow, Wednesday, in defense of a reinforcement in the maintenance of the infrastructure, but it did not convince three other formations outside the negotiation table and which have around 20% representation among the staff: CGT, Railway Union and Alferro. Keeping the mobilization alive this Tuesday and tomorrow, Wednesday, the latter require the preservation of minimum services with a special effect on high speed, where a 73% service guarantee was decreed.
The shock of the protest was noticeable early in the morning in Cercanías de Madrid, where Renfe stated yesterday that . Passengers hesitate on the platforms while the operator tries to reassure and hopes that the impact of the strike will be minimal. There are readjustments of services early in the morning, with schedule alterations, for example on lines C-7 (Alcalá de Henares-Príncipe Pío) and C-2c (Guadalajara-Chamartín).
In the high speed sector, the Iryo and Ouigo companies have been forced to maintain the cancellation of 39 trains between today and tomorrow, as planned since the start of the strike, due to the doubt of whether the crew personnel, but not the train drivers, would continue to support the protest. The first is affected. Ouigo, for its part, has canceled . Renfe, for its part, hopes to restore its schedules both on long distance and Cercanías when they are not affected by adverse weather.
In Rodalies de Catalunya, operated by the aforementioned Renfe, early warning was given of the cancellation of the mobilization of the sector and of the forecast recovery of the usual services, although it was warned on social networks that “alterations may occur at the beginning of the service.” Lines R3, R4, R7, R8, R15 and RL4 continue this Tuesday.
CGT stated last night in a statement that the agreements signed by the majority centers “do not represent a real change in the railway model”, but rather a “new patch aimed at deactivating the conflict without addressing the causes that have led the sector to the current situation.” Both CGT, Alferro and the Railway Union complain of having been left out of the negotiations in which Óscar Puente’s ministry has been accompanied by the presidents of Adif and Renfe. “There are no real and immediate measures to reinforce security: only bureaucracy and plans with no impact on daily operations. It is not enough,” can be read in Alferro’s account on the social network X.
Once the reinforcement of spending on network maintenance has been agreed with an additional 1.8 billion until 2030 and the creation of 3,600 jobs between Adif, Renfe and the Railway Safety Agency, among other aspects, CGT warns that “precariousness, work overload and lack of resources persist” in private companies in the sector. The protest goes beyond the demand for regulatory changes and greater spending on maintenance of Adif networks after the tragic accidents in Adamuz (Córdoba) and Gelida (Barcelona), which cost the lives of 47 people between January 18 and 20.
