Renfe had expected the agreed operational changes to help restore normal service on Sunday after Friday’s deal with the drivers’ unions. The agreement reinstated the working arrangements used before 1 November, allowing drivers to start shifts at stations other than Barcelona-Sants. Instead, copper theft between El Clot and Badalona left R1 trains running almost an hour late.
The operator arranged replacement coaches between Maçanet-Massanes and Blanes, then between Blanes and Mataró, to limit disruption for passengers. Delays of 15 to 30 minutes were also reported across three other lines: R4, R2 Sud and R11.
The R4 links Manresa with Sant Vicenç de Calders through Barcelona. The R2 Sud runs from Barcelona-Estación de França to Sant Vicenç de Calders. R11 connects Barcelona-Sants with Portbou. The disruption came as Renfe put in place a deal intended to restore the previous arrangements for drivers’ schedules and shift start locations.
The agreement followed a week of widespread delays and cancellations, with more than 1,600 services cancelled during the dispute. It began when the Semaf union withdrew from earlier labour agreements that had allowed drivers to start shifts at different stations, including Mataró and Terrassa. Renfe then applied the regulatory schedules, requiring drivers to report to Barcelona-Sants before travelling to the stations where they would take over their trains. That change complicated staff handovers and the journey to starting points.
Renfe’s agreement allows drivers to resume starting shifts at stations other than Sants. An earlier report on the schedule deal described the change. The arrangement was a temporary operational settlement, not a resolution of the wider disagreement over shift organisation. Renfe said the return to normal would be gradual over the weekend, with the new operational flexibility fully in place from Sunday, 15 November.
The theft-related disruption came amid other infrastructure problems on the network. A separate cable theft near Fabra i Puig and toward Montcada i Bifurcació had affected signalling, causing delays of about 30 minutes on the R4 and R7. On 13 November, Catalonia’s territory minister, Sílvia Paneque, said 40 arrests had been made in three months under Plan Via, an operation targeting copper theft on Rodalies lines.
Another nationwide rail strike is scheduled for Tuesday 17 November, affecting Renfe and Adif, along with other operators. Rodalies is scheduled to run 66% of its normal trains during peak periods and 33% during the rest of the day under minimum-service arrangements. The strike is separate from the driver-schedule agreement and is expected to affect services across Spain.
