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 04.02.2026

The railways are a mess – don’t let it mess with your environmental commitment!

Public transport, especially rail, has clear benefits in terms of reducing the carbon footprint, increasing safety on streets and roads and cutting down on ambient noise. Most importantly, it is a great option for combating climate change.

To maximise the positive impacts public transport mobility can have, governments and users must work together. This, however, is not what is happening currently. Road infrastructures in our territory are obsolete and trains are not a reliable option. The current railway crisis is far-reaching and affects commuter, high-speed and freight services.

For weeks now, the Port of Barcelona has been in chaos; international flows are at a standstill with no clear forecast of when they’ll start up again. One example: this January, out of 250 international trains planned to depart from Barcelona, only 30 have run.

The lack of trains causes unnecessary delays, disrupts people’s lives and erodes the credibility of decarbonisation policies and the country’s international image.

Despite this harsh reality, let us not let our guard down, let us be conscious and responsible citizens in all our daily activities. Mobility, shopping, waste, electricity and water consumption, where we go on holiday and leisure activities… we have a myriad of ways in which to select sustainable and low-polluting options. Climate change is a reality that must be addressed through collective policies as well as individual, everyday actions.