Rodalies services are returning in stages after Semaf approved the safety reports required by drivers. Storm-damaged sections remain closed while new operational checks continue.
The cleared routes include the R1, R2, R3, R4, R7, R8 and R11, along with several regional services. Semaf validated the safety reports required by drivers. Some sections remain closed because storm damage still needs further checks.
Semaf confirmed the decision to ACN after reviewing the documents for the lines cleared to operate. The reports cover the R1 between Hospitalet and Maçanet, the R2 norte between Sant Andreu and Granollers, the R2 sur between Sant Vicenç and Barcelona, and the R4 between Sant Vicenç de Calders and Sabadell.
The disruption followed heavy rain that brought down a tree and triggered a landslide on Rodalies infrastructure. On Tuesday, passengers had to be evacuated from a train near Vilanova i la Geltrú.
This was not a routine paperwork check. Drivers had made the safety review a condition for restarting services. The step forms part of protocols agreed after the railway accidents at Gelida and Adamuz.
Those protocols require empty test runs without passengers before some services reopen. In January, a trainee driver died after severe weather during the accident at Gelida. That loss has made drivers particularly cautious. Renfe and Adif had already said trains could run safely on the network, but drivers still required written confirmation before the affected services resumed.
The first approved operational verification also covers the R3 between la Garriga and the French border. It includes the R7 between Montcada and Cerdanyola Universitat and the R8 between Castellbisbal and Granollers. The R11 between Portbou and Maçanet is covered too.
Regional trains are part of the clearance. The approved routes include the R13 and R14 between la Plana and Sant Vicenç de Calders. They also include the R15 and R16 between Reus and Tarragona, the R17 between Tarragona and Sant Vicenç, as well as the RT1 and RT2.
Semaf has also invoked Spain’s Royal Decree-Law 8/2024, which provides for informing the works council when serious safety risks arise. On routes that remain unavailable, replacement buses continue to serve passengers while further checks are carried out.
The list also shows what has not reopened. Trade union sources say new reports are still pending for the R2 norte and R4 norte sections affected by the storm. Each route needs a separate operational assessment before it can join the validated circulation.
The wider disruption began with storm damage across the railway network. A tree fell, and a landslide hit Rodalies infrastructure. The damage added to an existing dispute over whether verbal assurances from Renfe and Adif were enough. Drivers wanted written confirmation for every affected section.
El País reported that the operators considered empty verification trains part of the safety process used before circulation resumes. The process remains disputed. That is the immediate issue.
For passengers, the change is a gradual reopening, not a full return across Rodalies. Trains can run on the corridors covered by the verified report. Services tied to the remaining storm-damaged sections still depend on more documents and checks. Replacement buses remain on the unavailable routes.
The Catalan government has called the situation unacceptable. Territorial Policy Minister Sílvia Paneque said the dispute was not caused by an infrastructure failure or by the network's modernization. She said the deadlock concerned the procedure for confirming safety within a certification system overseen by the railway safety agency.
Safety verification now controls the timetable. Renfe and Adif have said circulation is safe. Semaf has endorsed the reports for the listed routes. The unresolved sections still need another review.
The recovery is partial. Approved lines can move again, but excluded corridors cannot reopen until their own reports are applied. Reporting by Democrata indicates that the restoration is proceeding in stages instead of reopening the entire Rodalies network at once.
