Rail services on the Rodalies de Catalunya commuter network in the Spanish province of Catalonia has been suspended following two serious rail accidents on the province rail network. The measure was taken due to ongoing infrastructure inspections following severe weather.
At the start of service on January 21, infrastructure management company Adif confirmed that all rail traffic on the Rodalies network would remain halted until safety for passengers and railway workers can be fully guaranteed.
Rodalies (meaning “commuter rail” in Catalan) is the backbone of daily mobility in Catalonia. The network consists of 17 lines, serving Barcelona and its wider metropolitan and regional area, and operates a fleet of approximately 270 trains.
In normal conditions, Rodalies carries around 130 million passengers per year, or roughly 350,000 to 400,000 users on a typical weekday, making it one of the busiest commuter rail systems in southern Europe. The network operates among others between Barcelona, El Prat airport, Girona/Figueres to France, Tarragona and up to Zaragossa.
Trains are operated by Spain state-owned rail company Renfe, under agreement with the Catalan government. From this year, operations are expected to transition to a new joint public company owned by Renfe Viajeros (50.1%) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (49.9%).
The most serious incident occurred Tuesday evening near Gelida, where a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks between Gelida and Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, striking a local train. The accident left one person dead and 37 injured. An investigation is now underway to determine the exact cause but torrential rain in the region is one of the reasons named by authorities.
Earlier the same evening, a second incident occurred between Tordera and Maçanet-Massanes, when a stone on the tracks caused an axle derailment on a regional train. No injuries were reported among the ten passengers onboard, who were evacuated and transported by road.
The latest disruptions add to ongoing reliability challenges for Rodalies, which has faced repeated delays and service interruptions in recent months due to aging infrastructure, weather-related incidents, and operational constraints. During the first half of 2025 alone, authorities reported more than 1,500 hours of cumulative delays, affecting over one million passengers.
Renfe and Adif are urging travelers to use other modes of transportation until rail service can safely resume. Spain experienced over the week end one of its most tragic train crashes in its modern history when two high-speed trains colluded in Andalusia.
