Rodalies will be payable again starting Saturday, May 9, after more than three months of free travel applied after the Gelida accident on January 20. The free measure will remain in place until Friday, May 8, the last day users can travel without paying for a ticket.
The Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, communicated the change during a visit to the works of the Rubí tunnel, in an event in which the Secretary of State for Transport, José Antonio Santano, also participated. The announcement comes at a time when the network faces a progressive recovery of services and frequencies after weeks marked by restrictions and emergency works.
End of an exceptional measure after the Gelida accident
The gratuity of Rodalies was in effect since the accident registered in Gelida on January 20, an episode that forced the suspension of all railway service in Catalonia. From that moment on, a phase of urgent actions was opened, with cuts on several lines and an extension of the temporary speed limitations in different sections of the network.
Paneque explained that, with the progressive withdrawal of those temporary speed limitations, it is no longer necessary to maintain exceptional measures such as the gratuity. The counselor placed that decision within the framework of the gradual normalization of the service.
Recovery of travelers and new routes from Monday
The counselor affirmed that Rodalies has already recovered 90% of its usual passengers, a figure that the Government links to the gradual improvement of operations. In parallel, the Monday following the withdrawal of free travel, several routes on lines that were still affected by incidents derived from works and traffic restrictions will be re-established.
- On the R15 between Reus and Mora la Nova
- On the R3 between Ripoll and Ribes de Freser
- On the R4 between Sant Vicenç de Calders and Manresa
The return to the payment coincides with the recovery of these sections, in a new phase for Rodalies after months of extraordinary measures due to the impact of the Gelida accident and the emergency interventions carried out on the network.