Rodalies sets record for number of trains in October but delays persist in Catalunya

October produced historic figures for Rodalies in Catalonia. Renfe scheduled 21,156 trains during the month, 474 more than in September, and carried 9.3 million passengers. The growth came despite the closure of the R3 line for track-doubling works between Barcelona and La Garriga, where 20% of regular users chose other means of transport.

Even with this impact, the service as a whole gained passengers compared with the previous month, when there were also disruptions due to infrastructure works, such as the closure of the R2 Sud and several Regional services between Gavà and Sitges.

Punctuality also showed a slight improvement. In October, 634 trains were cancelled, improving on September’s 807. Although half the services did not keep to timetable at intermediate stations, punctuality at destination reached 99.3%, compared with 95% the previous month. The average delay was 0.2 minutes, the best figure of the year, although among trains that did arrive late the average rose to 18.3 minutes.

One key figure: close to a hundred trains arrived more than 15 minutes late, 4% of the total. In its transparency exercise begun in September, Renfe has added new categories to explain the causes. Three out of every ten minutes of delay are attributed to incidents attributable to the operator itself; the rest are due to external factors such as infrastructure problems, other operators, fires or adverse weather.

Thus, October becomes a month of records and contrasts: more trains, more passengers, an improvement in overall punctuality, but also a notable persistence of significant delays.