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Catalonia Formally Constitutes Rodalies Joint Company With Renfe Holding 50.1%

Operational control remains pending rail licenses, safety certification plus a contingency plan, with timing no earlier than 2027.

Overview

  • A notarial signing by Sílvia Paneque and Renfe president Álvaro Fernández Heredia created Rodalies de Catalunya SME SA with €2 million in initial capital.
  • A nine-member board was appointed and convened immediately for its first meeting, with Paneque named chair.
  • Òscar Playà, formerly the director of Barcelona’s Metro at TMB, was appointed CEO to focus on reliability, passenger information and incident response.
  • Officials framed the entity as a governance tool to build a roadmap for improvements rather than a promise of quick fixes, with Paneque cautioning, “We cannot promise miracles.”
  • The ownership split assigns 50.1% to Renfe and 49.9% to the Generalitat, reflecting a shared-control structure shaped by political agreements reached in 2023.