Spain’s national rail operator Renfe will cancel 328 train services on Wednesday July 15th as rail workers take part in their second stoppage this summer.
Spain’s Railway Union is calling for a second 24-hour strike for Renfe workers this Wednesday, following the one carried out on June 29th.
The Spanish Ministry of Transport has agreed to establish minimum services of at least 66 percent for medium-distance trains and 73 percent for high-speed trains.
According to the minimum service resolution decreed by the Ministry, of the 343 high-speed and long-distance trains scheduled for Wednesday, 94 could be affected. And of the 650 medium-distance trains, a total of 234 will be cancelled.
That adds up to a total of 328 suspended services.
Even though the previous strike in late June saw a similar number of cancellations, the stoppage had little impact on train travellers as many were able to get a seat on trains that were running.
Renfe said at the time that workers’ strike participation was as low as 1.83 percent , so the service was able to operate “normally across most of the rail network”.
However, the Railway Union denounced that Renfe had “acted illegally to prevent the free exercise” of the strike and announced that they would take these “irregularities” to court, in protection of the fundamental right to strike of the workers and the union.
In any case, anyone planning to travel by train in Spain on Wednesday July 15th should check their service’s status before leaving for the station.
The union has denounced the breach of agreements between the Ministry of Transport and Renfe workers, which was reached in November 2023. At the time, this agreement led to the cancellation of another planned strike.
They’re also in dispute over the future of Renfe Mercancías (Renfe Freight). The union accuses the company of deliberately abandoning the service and opposes the creation of a joint venture with Medway, part of the Swiss Italian MSC group.
They said that the situation poses a “serious threat” to Renfe’s workforce and creates an atmosphere of uncertainty “without any guarantees for the workforce”.
The strike on June 29th, however, had a reduced participation rate of 1.83 percent, according to Renfe. That, along with low passenger volume meat that services were able to operate “normally across most of the rail network”.
If your journey is affected by the Renfe strike, you can change your ticket to an alternative available service or a different date without any additional cost or fees.
You can also cancel your ticket without any extra costs through official Renfe channels.
