The people who this Monday had to take the bus from Tarragona to Sant Vicenç de Calders (Tarragona), within the alternative transport plan through the railway cut in Roda de Berà, did so with nerves and confusion to know if they would be able to make the correct journey. to the transporters’ strike called for this Monday.
The effects have been most evident in Sant Vicenç de Calders, where passengers have to get off the bus and transfer to local trains. Many of them have missed the train and have had to wait between 20 and 30 minutes for the next convoy heading to Barcelona to pass. Ariadna Viladomat, one of the passengers, explained to ACN that her bus was part of the minimum services, but “it arrived very quickly and we missed the train.”
Maika Segur, another bus user, described the day as “chaotic”. As he explained, at the Sant Vicenç de Calders station the informants told him that there was a strike this Monday and that, therefore, the schedules that were posted did not work. “They told us to go to the stops, wait and that, with a little luck, a bus would arrive at the time we needed,” she explained indignantly. “It is a lack of respect for those of us who use public transport to go to work,” denounced Segur, who believes that “they should be a little more organized.”
Due to the strike, direct buses between Sant Vicenç de Calders and Vila-seca – Cambrils, and Reus have been cancelled. On the other hand, the one that goes directly to Salou – PortAventura has been maintained. This Monday’s road transport strike also affects the bus service that Renfe has contracted due to the railway cut. With the application of the minimum services decreed by the Government, daily shipments of the complementary service to the train have been reduced by 26%. In this way, 161 expeditions are offered, instead of the usual 600.
They do not arrive at the transshipment
Ariadna Viladomat and Laura García are two friends who go to Barcelona, one daily and the other more sporadically since the works are underway. Viladomat knew that there was a strike, but explained that they had reviewed the minimum services and their bus was not affected. Finally, however, they arrived late in Sant Vicenç de Calders and the train had already left. They had to wait twenty minutes for the next one to arrive. “Other times you could take the train when the bus arrived. This time it was not like that, you lose a lot of time,” said Viladomat.
García takes an hour and twenty minutes and assures that normally the alternative bus service works “well.” On the other hand, this Monday he estimates that they will need two hours to get to Barcelona. A similar testimony is that of Gabriel Gras, who lives in Barcelona and makes this journey twice a week to return to his home in Tarragona.
“Today everything had to go well, but when the bus arrived, the train had already left,” Gras told ACN. In addition, he warned that they would have to wait for the next train coming from Lleida, which is usually already “full” and today is fifteen minutes late. He also highlighted that the other times he had used the alternative plan service, when transferring in Sant Vicenç de Calders, he had been able to catch the train directly without having to wait.
Some users regretted the lack of information about the bus strike and the minimum services decreed. Lucía Cobian and Izan Moreno, who come from municipalities affected by the railway cut, did not know that this Monday there was a stoppage for bus drivers. They both take the train every day and then the bus to go to study in Tarragona. They point out that it takes up to two hours to make a journey that previously took just over 40 minutes. Today they had to add a few more minutes due to the strike.
More buses than planned
From the Basttestini station in Tarragona, the minimum service of the alternative transport plan has been developed without incident. In fact, more buses left than planned and announced by Renfe. Even so, since early in the morning, the influx of people has been constant and, according to August González, who uses the alternative plan every Monday to go to Barcelona, ”there are more people than usual.”
A feeling that Paula Alemán and Esther Jávega have also had. Both have arrived at the station on one of the Tarragona EMT buses. “It was crowded, we couldn’t get on the bus,” said Alemán, who added that people were nervous for fear of not getting the service. For his part, Jávega has criticized the lack of knowledge on the part of Renfe informants.
“They told me that no bus left until eight o’clock, but during the strike hours one left at 7:30 a.m.,” explained this user who feared not arriving at work on time. Finally, he was able to get into the seven-thirty vehicle, as planned.
This nervousness and fear of arriving late has caused users like Ricard Kirchner to take the train from Barcelona to Tarragona three hours ahead of schedule. “As I fear everything, I took the first train in the morning,” explained this user who arrived after seven in the morning in the capital of Tarragona, although he does not go to work until noon.
Towards a joint proposal
The general secretaries of CCOO, Javier Pacheco, and UGT, Camil Ros, have indicated that the road passenger transport strike, which has begun, is for “health” and to “dignify” this profession. This is how they expressed themselves at the beginning of the march, called by both unions, in the Ildefons Cerdà square, which ends in front of the Foment del Treball headquarters, in Barcelona.
According to both organizations, the mobilization has brought together around 800 people to demand early retirement at age 60. Ros has denounced the “unpresentable” position of the sector’s employers. Therefore, he hopes that after the demonstration “he will come down and sit down to negotiate,” so that a joint proposal can be made.
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