Renfe drivers plan 24-hour strike later this month

The Semaf union has called the action for October 29, with commuter, regional, long-distance and high-speed services potentially affected

Renfe train services could face disruption at the end of October after the Semaf train drivers’ union called a 24-hour strike.

The action is planned for Thursday October 29, from 12.01am to 11.59pm. It affects train drivers across all companies in the Renfe Group and could still be called off if an agreement is reached beforehand.

If it goes ahead, the strike could disrupt Renfe’s commuter, regional, long-distance and high-speed services, as well as freight transport.

The Ministry of Transport has yet to publish the minimum service levels for the day. Those measures will determine how many trains must run to maintain passenger mobility.

Anyone planning to travel on October 29 should check Renfe’s announcements and the status of their journey before setting off for the station.

Semaf says the strike is a response to a lack of progress on commitments agreed in February after the railway accidents in Adamuz, Córdoba, and Gelida, Barcelona. The union says the agreements covered railway safety, weather emergency protocols, the hiring of new drivers, support for workers involved in collisions and the reliability of trains.

The union is calling for clear and binding protocols for adverse weather events, better coordination of communications during emergencies and the hiring of new train drivers. It also wants improved support for professionals injured in train collisions and measures to make railway equipment more reliable.

Semaf says safety must take priority over any pressure to keep trains running. “Everything remains just as paralysed as it was in May,” the union said in a statement to members.

Renfe rejects the union’s claims. It says it has fulfilled all the commitments it made in the February agreement, which allowed earlier strike days on February 10 and 11 to be called off.

The company says that, of the 24 remaining measures outside its direct control, 17 have been implemented and the remaining seven are progressing through administrative, regulatory and technical procedures.

Renfe also says it has met its target of hiring up to 1,200 additional workers to strengthen rail operations and improve safety. It adds that it has honoured commitments on maintenance, train reliability and service quality.

The dispute followed the breakdown of talks at the Conflict Resolution Commission, which includes representatives from workers, the Transport Ministry, rail infrastructure manager Adif, the Spanish Railway Safety Agency and Renfe.

Semaf is also calling separate action at high-speed operator Ouigo, including 24-hour strikes on October 30 and November 2, and partial strikes on November 6 and 9 and December 4 and 8.

Image: Spanish News Today