Governments greenlight creating joint Rodalies company to manage commuter network

The Catalan and Spanish governments simultaneously greenlighted the creation of the joint Rodalies de Catalunya company on Tuesday during the last cabinet meetings before summer. The joint enterprise, featuring Renfe with 50.1% ownership and the Catalan government with 49.9%, will manage the Rodalies commuter train network in the territory.

The emerging enterprise will handle the infrastructure with its "own criteria" based on needs and the regional knowledge of the network, as Catalan government spokesperson and territory minister Sílvia Paneque said.

The Catalan government will now have a "fundamental and key position in the Rodalies management."

The deal to form the joint company between Renfe and the Catalan government sees the regional authorities assign five of the nine board members, including the president. Both sides will officialize the company's existence by 2026.

"There is no structured timing," Paneque said from the Catalan government headquarters in Barcelona.

From Madrid, Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente said that the step taken is part of the government's push for "dialogue, transformation, and cohesion of the rail network, as well as offering an improved service to citizens."

During a press conference at Spain's cabinet headquarters, La Moncloa, Puente also said that the joint company deal goes "side-by-side with the investment plans for Rodalies, which are still on the table, with new trains and a more efficient management."

Puente believes Rodalies commuters will start experiencing an improvement in the service in two to three years.

The joint company was announced after a meeting in Barcelona between both cabinets in mid-June.

The Rodalies management transfer from Spanish to Catalan authorities comes after a deal between Esquerra Republicana and the Socialists to back Pedro Sánchez in his attempt to become Spanish PM once again.