Renfe says minimum services are not being met during the Semaf train drivers' strike

Renfe said on Tuesday that the 24-hour strike called by the train drivers' union Semaf is affecting Cercanías commuter rail and Rodalies because minimum services are not being met, and advises passengers to look for alternative transport, according to El Español and the newspaper Ara.

In Madrid, according to the Cercanías Madrid notice cited by El Español, trains on lines C-3, C-4 and C-5 are not running, and only the occasional train is running on lines C-1, C-2, C-7, C-8 and C-10. The same newspaper reports that the Madrid Metro was overwhelmed early in the morning.

In Catalonia, the minimum services set were 66 % of trains at peak hours and 33 % the rest of the day, according to Ara. By 6 in the morning, 14 of the 25 scheduled trains had left and, by around 6.30, 60 % of the scheduled minimum services had already been cancelled, according to the same outlet. The Catalan regional minister for Territory, Sílvia Paneque, said on Catalunya Ràdio that the regional government will demand that Renfe open inquiries and disciplinary proceedings, and Territory and Renfe have deployed about sixty additional buses.

Semaf says the strike is over the failure to implement the rail safety commitments agreed in February with the Ministry of Transport, Adif and Renfe after the Adamuz accident. Drivers will strike again on Thursday 12, in a partial strike, and the general strike falls on Wednesday 11, affecting the whole rail sector.

No official count of cancelled trains across Spain is yet available.