The ongoing investigation has yet to clarify the precise circumstances that explain the collision of two Rodalies trains this Wednesday in Montcada. The convoy that caught up with the one that was stopped at the station perhaps confused a green signal that did not correspond to it or, what at the moment seems more likely, passed, following the protocols, a signal that allowed it to travel at a speed that allowed it to brake within the distance in which he had visibility. And either the speed was wrong (although in fact the driver slowed it down, limiting the damage to 155 minor injuries), due to human error or a combination of fog and insufficient taillights from the other convoy, or perhaps a signaling like the one present in that section should not be displayed before a station that is reached by a curve with poor visibility.
Whatever the weight of each of these factors in this week’s accident, beyond the human factor, weather or chance, the Rodalies’ structural deficiencies will be one of the components. It is inevitable to question again the volume of investments in this service in the Barcelona area and the slowness with which they are carried out even when they are approved. Demanding that a basic service for daily mobility in the metropolitan area be safe, sufficient and regular is the obligation of any political or institutional representative of the citizens who suffer from its insufficiencies. Another very different thing is the advantage that leads, for example, to relate from minute one of the incident the responsibility for the clash with the policy of ERC agreements with the central government.
What is no less unacceptable is avoiding reality, maintaining, as the Minister of Transport did, that “our trains work well, but sometimes these things cannot be avoided” or that what happened “has nothing to do with investment” . Any user of Rodalies in the Barcelona area lives on a daily basis that our trains do not work exactly well. Security should be taken for granted. In addition, a service of this type must have the capacity required by the volume of mobility (and the availability of public resources or the temporary inconvenience precisely due to the improvement works can be arguable reasons why the network still has insufficiencies compared to what it would be). ideal coverage). But also a punctuality, regularity and reliability that does not make each trip depend on chance and that makes the rail service competitive with other mobility alternatives. That, which should be non-negotiable, is an eternally deferred promise.
On the other hand, the occurrence of things like the collision of two trains in Montcada does (also) have to do with investment. The most sophisticated traffic control systems, such as those in service on the AVE, are still a project in Rodalies. The fact that the signals that allow trains with red lights to move at slow speed even if they have a convoy in front (something necessary to speed up a congested network) are no longer installed on sections with poor visibility is also a claim whose satisfaction is scheduled in the future. Just like the reform of the station where the incident happened.
When one should bet on the imperative need to contribute to the fight against the climate emergency by transferring mobility from private vehicles to collective public transport, it is not enough to explain what happened. It is necessary to offer solutions so that it does not continue to happen.