The incident, which occurred this Wednesday, caused average delays of up to 40 minutes towards Barcelona and 30 minutes towards Granollers. This situation particularly affected users from Vallès and passengers who typically use El Clot - Aragó or Passeig de Gràcia stations.
To mitigate the impact, some trains destined for the Airport terminated their journey at Sants. Sources from Renfe advised travelers to use "alternative modes of transport" to reach Bellvitge, El Prat stations, and the airport itself.
“"The Government has rushed to resume charging for train use and believes that incidents like this Wednesday's, coupled with persistent closed sections on lines such as R3 or R15, do not allow the Catalan railway network to be considered 'normalized'."
This incident comes in the same week that the Minister of Territory, Ecological Transition and Housing, stated that most Rodalies lines, except for the R2Sud, are now "normalized". Furthermore, the service will become chargeable again this Saturday, after more than three months of free travel.
Copper theft is a recurring problem on the Rodalies network, causing major delays by disabling part of the signaling system. Since October, the R3 line, between Montcada and La Garriga, has been one of the most affected. Doubling and upgrading works at Montcada Bifurcació station have facilitated the thieves' actions. Up to eight people have been arrested in the last year for similar incidents.
