With no train and unreliable buses between Ferrolterra and A Coruña, over 420 people now rely on a WhatsApp group to share car journeys. For many, this is the only way to reach work or university on time as public transport options collapse.
At 7 a.m. outside Ferrol’s bus station, commuters check their phones, hoping for a last-minute carpool. For many, the WhatsApp group linking Ferrolterra and A Coruña isn’t just helpful—it’s essential. When buses are late, overcrowded, or don’t show up, the group’s 420 members scramble for a seat in someone’s car just to get to work or class.
What started as a backup plan is now routine. The chat is a steady stream of offers and requests—“Room for two at 8:15?” “Anyone heading back tonight?”—as people try to cover the 55 kilometers between two of Galicia’s main cities. The going rate is 4 euros per ride, enough to cover fuel, but the real cost is lost time and growing frustration.
According to local press, there are only five scheduled bus departures in each direction per day between Ferrol and A Coruña, with journeys taking about 1 hour 15 minutes and up to 12 intermediate stops.
Fernanda Soutullo, who’s commuted between Ares and A Coruña for nearly twenty years, calls the WhatsApp group a “band-aid on a gaping wound.” She switches between her own car and “the cursed buses,” but neither is reliable. “I’ve even put up posters in bars looking for carpool partners,” she says. For Fernanda, the group is a last resort when public transport fails—which happens often.
Bea Teijeiro, another longtime commuter, has tried every route except the one that would make sense: the train. “The train would solve everything. What’s killing us is not having it,” she says. After 25 years working in A Coruña, Bea has watched things get worse as more people make the same trip, only to be stranded by rare buses and no rail connection.
For those outside Ferrol, the commute is even more complicated. Fernanda’s daily routine is a patchwork: bus from Ares to Vilar do Colo, then a car ride to A Coruña’s bus station, then a city bus to her job near the Obelisco. “It’s a puzzle every day,” she says, “and it’s getting worse.”
Local media and social networks consistently describe the Ferrol–A Coruña corridor as facing a chronic transport crisis, not just isolated incidents. According to reports cited by La Voz de Galicia, passengers frequently travel standing during peak hours, and recent technical failures—including a bus breakdown in the O Sartego tunnel on September 11—have intensified calls for urgent investigation and reform.
Weekend shifts are especially tough. A.B., who works at a hospital, joined the WhatsApp group after missing too many buses. “Sometimes the schedule just doesn’t match up, so I use the group as a backup. The bus would be cheapest if it actually worked, but it doesn’t arrive when it’s supposed to,” she says. Many hospital staff say they’d stop driving if public transport were even somewhat reliable.
Missed connections and packed buses are common. “People arrive 15 or 20 minutes early, but if the bus is full, they’re left behind,” Bea says. In those moments, the WhatsApp group is the only option. A.B. remembers being turned away from her usual bus and told a backup would come. It showed up 40 minutes late and skipped her stop, so she had to take a taxi and arrived late for her shift.
Carpooling is flexible, but not easy. Riders have to adjust to the driver’s schedule and drop-off points, often rearranging their own plans. “We try to coordinate vacations, and if someone gives me a ride, I fit my day around them,” Fernanda says. For her, carpooling is a patch, not a solution. “The train will come when I’m retired,” she jokes. She’s 54 and still waiting for a real fix.
The sense of being left behind is clear. “Ferrol is one of Galicia’s seven main cities, but getting from one city to another is a mess,” Fernanda says. Bea is just as doubtful: “I don’t think I’ll ever see a train to Ferrol, but maybe our children or grandchildren will.”
Now, frustration is turning into protest. This Friday, commuters will gather outside the Xunta de Galicia building in Ferrol under the banner “non máis humillacións”—no more humiliations. The demonstration, set for 18:00 on September 18, calls out missed buses, broken schedules, and the indignity of standing-room-only rides. Organizers want to force the issue onto the political agenda and demand answers for a region that feels forgotten.
As the crisis drags on, the WhatsApp group is both a symptom and a warning. It shows how public transport in Galicia has failed, leaving people to improvise with group chats instead of real infrastructure. The situation is part of a wider problem for Spanish commuters, as seen in recent coverage of urban access bans and mobility struggles. Until there’s a real solution—starting with a working train line—people in Ferrolterra will keep relying on group chats and the kindness of strangers. Patchwork fixes can’t replace a transport system that actually works.
