The first working day after the end of free travel on Rodalies tickets passed normally at Catalan stations, with most users already informed of the change and reinforcement staff to help with the purchase of season tickets.
The return to payment arrives, however, with an underlying tension still open. While the Catalan and Spanish governments maintain that 95% of the network has recovered its pre-rail crisis normality and that 90% of passengers have returned, a portion of users maintain that the service is still far from operating regularly.
Rodalies deployed 70 reinforcements at Sants and five other stations
For Monday's journey, Rodalies reinforced attention with 70 people in some of the stations with the most traveler movement. The deployment was concentrated in Sants, Passeig de Gràcia, Plaça de Catalunya, Mataró, Granollers, and Sant Celoni.
The objective was to assist users in the purchase of new titles, once the free period applied during the service crisis ended. The network now recovers the previous subsidized scheme, with reduced but no longer free rates.
The monthly subscription costs 20 euros.
The youth season ticket also returns, aimed at those born between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2011, with a price of 10 euros. Added to this are the ten-trip Bonotren, whose amount varies depending on the number of zones.
Dignitat a les Vies links payment to the real state of the service
The Dignitat a les Vies platform questions whether the recovery of passenger numbers and service offerings allows the crisis to be considered over. Anna Gómez, spokesperson for the entity, places the debate on the daily reliability of the journey and not solely on the return of travelers to the network.
"We understand that payment must be made when the service works, but that is not yet the case, there are people who have seen their journey time double or triple" - Anna Gómez, spokesperson, Dignitat a les Vies
Gómez also questions whether the re-establishment of charges fits with the need to maintain support measures outside of the railway. His criticism points to the coexistence between the official message of normalization and the reinforcements still active in other modes of transport.
The Government and the State place the recovery of passengers at 90%.
Along these lines, the spokesperson for Dignitat a les Vies asked another question about the situation of the network and stated that, if the service were truly on track, it would not be understood that interurban buses continue to be reinforced. She also assured that, under current conditions, only those who have no other choice use the train.
The youth pass for those born between 2000 and 2011 costs 10 euros.