The Lleida to La Pobla de Segur railway line has recorded an increase in crime after remaining untouched by offenses during 2024 and 2025, according to official figures provided by the Mossos d’Esquadra. This situation breaks with the previous scenario on this rail infrastructure, which connects the Lleida counties of Ponent with the Pyrenees, where users and residents of the affected municipalities are calling for a greater police presence on the trains and at the stations along the route.

The shift in the Mossos d’Esquadra figures

Data provided by the Mossos d’Esquadra show that the relative peace enjoyed by the rail route in previous years has been disrupted. That situation of marginality regarding crime recorded in 2024 and 2025 has given way to new incidents that concern regular commuters and the local councils of the Segrià and Pallars regions. From La 101, we observe with concern how the daily commutes of workers and students are losing the minimum safety conditions required for any public transport service in the province.

The lack of continuous surveillance on the platforms and inside the carriages facilitates the actions of offenders who take advantage of the remoteness of some secondary stations. The local inhabitants, who pay their taxes and strictly comply with ordinances, deserve firm responses from the public authorities responsible for public order.

Impact on municipalities along the route

The rise in criminal activity has a direct impact on the confidence of residents who use the train as their main means of transport to travel to the capital of Lleida. Territorial disconnection is not only combated with investments in tracks and rolling stock, but also by guaranteeing that the journey is free of altercations and uncivil behavior.

Families in the Lleida counties demand that regional and local institutions prioritize public safety without half-measures or bureaucratic excuses. Coexistence in the Pyrenees and the plains of Lleida is based on respect for the law and the protection of common goods, principles that must prevail along every kilometer of this railway line managed from Catalonia.

La 101 de Lleida will continue to monitor the evolution of police reports and demand accountability from public managers so that rail journeys recover the safety levels demanded by citizens.

The context of crime and the metals market

The security situation in the transport infrastructure of the province of Lleida is not an isolated phenomenon, but part of a broader scenario marked by pressure on raw materials. According to official data from the Mossos d’Esquadra released through a parliamentary response by the Minister of the Interior of the Generalitat, Núria Parlón, Lleida’s tracks have registered a copper cable theft every nine days during the first months of the year. Specifically, between January 1 and June 15, 18 thefts were recorded across four of the province’s five rail corridors.

One of the main explanations for this surge in crime is the price of copper on the London Metal Exchange, the global benchmark market for metals, which stands at $14,740 per ton. On the black market, the stolen material can reach up to 10 euros per kilo depending on its condition. Given this economic context, the minister explicitly acknowledged the difficulty of monitoring and applying effective prevention measures across a rail network as extensive as Catalonia’s.

Territorial distribution of thefts and impact on users

The capital of Lleida accounts for the majority of incidents recorded by the Catalan police this year, with a total of 11 cable thefts within its municipal boundaries. The remaining thefts are distributed among the towns of Vinaixa, Tarrés, Àger, and Alcarràs, affecting various key points of the province’s communications network.

Regarding the rail corridors, the coastal line accounts for half of the detected offenses, while the high-speed tracks between Lleida and Barcelona add another four incidents. One theft has been recorded on the conventional line connecting the capital of Segrià with Zaragoza, and the remaining three correspond to the aforementioned La Pobla line, a route that, according to police statistics, had remained untouched by this problem in 2005 and 2024.

Beyond the direct incidents in the territory, the citizens of Lleida suffer a very pronounced indirect impact. Regional trains are severely affected when thefts occur in other areas such as Tarragona or Barcelona. A clear example of the magnitude of these incidents occurred last July 20, when a theft on the coastal line completely interrupted rail traffic and caused serious damage to the infrastructure managed by Adif.

Institutional reactions and demands from those affected

The response offered by the Govern of the Generalitat, through Minister of the Interior Núria Parlón, highlights the operational limitations when it comes to securing such an extensive transport network against the organized actions of metal thieves. Local councils and user groups from the Lleida counties are closely following these parliamentary explanations and are demanding stronger coordination between police forces and railway operators to protect citizens’ daily commutes.