Lorraine Williamson
Barcelona/Catalonia, Tuesday 27 January 2026 — Passengers in Catalonia continue to feel the effects of renewed rail disruption after major service failures on the Rodalies commuter network on Monday morning formed part of a broader week-long crisis in Spain’s rail system.
The incident — involving two total stoppages of commuter trains due to failures at the key Adif control centre in Estació de França (Barcelona) — has now triggered operational shake-ups, political tensions and continued service irregularities.
Two stoppages on Monday — chaos at morning rush hour
On Monday, 26 January, rail services began to resume at around 6.00 am after a weekend suspension aimed at safety inspections. However, a fault in the Adif control system caused the entire Rodalies network to halt around 6.45 am, only for a brief resumption shortly after that to be cut short by a second incident. Service was restored more steadily from about 8.30 am, though many lines continued to operate with delays and intermittent coverage.
Officials have described the root problem as a software and signalling failure at the centralised control point. Safety protocols triggered all signals to red, stopping trains across the network while technicians worked to stabilise systems.
Still rattled a day later — mixed recovery and ongoing issues
As of this morning, Renfe says services are running with “reasonable normality” compared with Monday’s collapse, though delays and gaps remain, and alternative transport provision continues. Around 150 replacement buses and hundreds of on-the-ground helpers from Renfe, Adif and local authorities are assisting travellers trying to reach their destinations.
At the same time, new separate infrastructure issues have compounded the situation: a possible earth movement forced the suspension of Rodalies lines R11 and RG1 between Caldes de Malavella and Girona, and another track problem on the AVE high-speed line near Tarragona has led to speed restrictions that slow services between Madrid and Barcelona.
Roughly 400,000 daily commuters affected
Rodalies is one of Spain’s busiest regional commuter systems, carrying around 400,000 passengers a day under normal conditions. The outages on Monday — following a weekend of suspensions, landslide-related track closures and earlier accidents — left long queues at major hubs such as Estació de Sants and frustrated commuters across the region.
Political pressure mounts
The fallout has spilled into politics. The Generalitat de Catalunya has demanded accountability from both Renfe and Adif management, even as transport officials defend their handling of the multifaceted crisis. High-level resignations have already occurred, with the director operative of Rodalies and Adif’s traffic head being removed from their posts following sustained disruption and mounting criticism from passengers and unions alike.
Meanwhile, rail drivers’ union leaders and regional representatives are warning that underinvestment in infrastructure and outdated systems leave services vulnerable to failures and natural hazards — issues highlighted by recent landslides, wall collapses and derailments in the region over the past week.
Cyberattack hypothesis still under investigation
Spain’s Óscar Puente has acknowledged that a sabotage or cyberattack possibility remains open, but also emphasises that probe teams are continuing technical investigations and have not yet confirmed the root cause. Officials stress that passenger safety was the priority in triggering automatic system shutdowns once anomalies were detected.
What travellers should know today
Passengers planning to use Rodalies today are advised:
-
Expect delays and intermittent service, particularly on lines still affected by Monday’s failures and follow-on infrastructure work.
-
Check live service updates from Renfe and Adif before travel.
-
Allow extra travel time, and consider alternative bus links where available.
-
Coordinated support remains in place across key stations to aid passenger movement.
The rail crisis in Catalonia continues to evolve as authorities balance urgent operational fixes with longer-term questions about investment, infrastructure resilience and transport governance in one of Spain’s most heavily used commuter corridors.