A 19-year-old student from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has claimed 9,211.35 euros from the Ministry of Transport and the Generalitat de Catalunya for damages attributed to a year and a half of delays, cancellations, and lack of information on lines R1 and R7. David Pujol, a resident of Pineda de Mar, maintains that the situation affected his mental health and academic performance to the point of forcing him to stop commuting daily and move to Cerdanyola del Vallès.
The tension of the case lies in that forced leap. Pujol is not only claiming for trains that did not arrive or for interrupted journeys, but for having had to change his residence to continue studying after a chain of incidents that, in his account, made the journey between Maresme and the UAB unviable.
Pujol claims 4,500 euros for mental health and 2,500 for its impact on studies
The patrimonial claim breaks down 4,500 euros for damages to mental health, 2,500 euros for violation of the right to education and loss of academic opportunities, and 2,000 euros for the uprooting linked to the change of residence. To that amount, he adds the reimbursement of transport passes.
The young man links these damages to the repeated incidents on the R7 and the combination with the R1, a daily dependence that worsened with the works at Montcada Bifurcació and with the need to chain transfers and alternative buses.
In his account, his routine was finally broken when he had to move from Pineda de Mar to Cerdanyola del Vallès to continue his studies at the UAB.
"It was very hard for me, it hurt me a lot mentally. After an hour and a half journey, I found that my R7 train did not exist and nobody said anything" - David Pujol, student, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Pujol assures that the situation caused him anxiety attacks, sleep problems, and academic impairments. He also explains that he filed between forty and fifty prior administrative claims with Renfe and other organizations, but received generic responses or no response at all.
The Dignitat a les Vies platform sees a possible precedent if the claim prospers
The claim has already been registered with the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Ministry of Transport. Both administrations have six months to respond and, if they remain silent or reject the request, the case may end up in court.
Pujol maintains that he is willing to go to that point. "I am very determined to go to trial if necessary. We cannot afford this. They must pay for everything they have done to us," he states.
From the user entities, Adrià Allo, a member of Dignitat a les Vies, maintains that the network has not yet recovered stable functioning and points out that a favorable resolution for Pujol could serve as a reference for other affected individuals. In his assessment, daily uncertainty even prevents organizing the return home.
Pol Méndez, a member of the Promoció del Transport Públic, links the railway collapse to housing and mobility problems and criticizes that large investments are not reaching the daily maintenance of the network. His diagnosis connects with an individual case that ended up having consequences outside of transportation and within the academic life of the student.
The file claims a total of 9,211.35 euros and gives the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Ministry of Transport a period of six months to respond before a possible judicial route.