Rodalies de Catalunya

"Rodalies" redirects here. For the rest of the Renfe-operated commuter rail systems in Spain, see Cercanías.
Rodalies de Catalunya
Rodalies de Catalunya logo

A Civia train in Rodalies de Catalunya livery making a service on Barcelona commuter rail service line R7 at Barcelona Sants railway station in 2011.
Overview
Owner Government of Catalonia
Area served Catalonia
Transit type Commuter rail, regional rail
Number of lines 17
Number of stations 203
Annual ridership 114.356 million (2013)[1][lower-alpha 1]
Chief executive Félix Martín[2]
Website rodalies.gencat.cat
Operation
Began operation 1 January 2010 (2010-01-01)
Operator(s) Renfe Operadora
Host railroads Adif
Technical
Track gauge 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 2132 in) Iberian gauge
Electrification 3,000 V DC overhead lines

Rodalies de Catalunya (Catalan pronunciation: [ruðəˈɫi.əz ðə kətəˈɫuɲə]; "Commuter Rail of Catalonia") is the main commuter and regional rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is administered by the Catalan government and operated by the national rail operator Renfe Operadora.[3] Currently, the system consists of 17 service lines chiefly centered in the Barcelona area, serving a total of 203 stations throughout Catalonia.

Most part of the system is the precursor of several commuter and regional lines within Catalonia which were formerly under the administration of the Spanish government. On 1 January 2010, as a result of the transfer of the administration of the Cercanías commuter rail system for Barcelona, known as Rodalies Barcelona, the system was renamed "Rodalies de Catalunya".[4] One year later, on 1 January 2011, Renfe Operadora's regional services within Catalonia were included in the system after their administration had also been transferred.[5] In 2014, two new commuter rail services in Camp de Tarragona and the Girona area were created as part of the system on 20 and 24 March, respectively.[6][7]

The Rodalies de Catalunya system, specially its Barcelona commuter rail service, has been criticized for its high number of incidents, normally resulting in delays, though some minor accidents involving injuries have also occurred.[8][9] The Catalan government has pointed out as their main cause poor investment in the system's infrastructure,[10] which is owned by Adif, a public agency of the Spanish government in charge of conventional (non-high-speed) rail infrastructure in the country.[11][12]

Current system

Barcelona commuter rail service

Rodalies de Catalunya's Barcelona commuter rail service consists of eight lines serving a large part of Barcelona metropolitan area which, in some cases, even extend out of its limits. Regardless of the VicLatour-de-Carol portion, it runs on 467 kilometres (290 mi) of railway lines and has 109 stations spread all over 77 municipalities, where about 4.7 million people live. It is calculated that the service is daily used by approximately 350,000 travelers and,[10] according to 2013 figures, its annual ridership is 105.089 million.[1]

All lines (excepting line R8) are centred in the city of Barcelona, where they run on two underground trunk routes. Lines R1, R3, R4 and a short stretch of line R7 use the Meridiana Tunnel, comprising Plaça de Catalunya, Arc de Triomf, La Sagrera-Meridiana and Sant Andreu Arenal stations. Contrarily, lines R2, R2 Nord and, partially, R2 Sud use the Aragó Tunnel, comprising Passeig de Gràcia and El Clot-Aragó stations. Both trunk routes converge at Barcelona Sants railway station, the service's main station.[13]

The current system is the precursor of former Renfe Operadora's Cercanías commuter rail system for Barcelona known as Rodalies Barcelona, and it has kept most of its features. Nevertheless, while all the other Cercanías systems around Spain use letter 'C' (from the Spanish word cercanías) plus a number for identifying their lines, Barcelona's commuter rail system uses letter 'R' instead (from its Catalan equivalent rodalies). As for the numbering, since Rodalies de Catalunya shares market with Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) on the city's commuter rail, it can only use numbers from 1 to 10 leaving numbers 5 and 6 for FGC lines.[14]

Since 22 July 2006, a line named R10 has been running between Barcelona–El Prat Airport and Barcelona's Estació de França.[15] However, due to construction works near Barcelona Sant Andreu Comtal railway station, a "temporary" restructuring of lines R2 and R10 was implemented on 31 January 2009; the R10 was suspended and the R2 was divided into three different lines—R2, R2 Nord ("North") and R2 Sud ("South"). Although line R10 was scheduled to resume services in two years according to official sources,[16] as of 2015, it has not been reopened yet and no date has been announced for this to happen.

On 26 June 2011, a restructuring of the service affecting several lines was implemented. It mainly involved the creation of new line R8, the first line ever bypassing Barcelona, and the rerouting of line R7. Before the restructuring, former line R7 ran from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to Martorell via the Meridiana Tunnel in Barcelona's city centre and Rubí. With the rerouting, it was shortened and started to run as a shuttle line between Cerdanyola Universitat and Barcelona Sant Andreu Arenal stations. New line R8 took over the former route of line R7 between Martorell and Cerdanyola Universitat, then continuing towards Granollers Centre. Thanks to the changes applied on lines R7 and R8, it was able to increase frequencies with a train every 6 minutes and 8 minutes during rush hour on lines R1 and R4, respectively.[17][18]

Typically, most trains call at all the stations on the line. Nevertheless, some trains on lines R2 Sud, R3 and R4 operate limited service and only call at certain stations. Furthermore, most trains on all lines, excepting lines R2, R7 and R8, operate partial services, being line R1 exclusively operated with partial services.

Rodalies de Catalunya's Barcelona commuter rail service after the 2011 restructuring. Other commuter and suburban railway lines in the Barcelona area (current and future) are also shown, including the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC)-operated Barcelona–Vallès and Llobregat–Anoia lines.
Suspended line
Rodalies de Catalunya's Barcelona commuter rail service lines (as of 24 March 2014)
Line Route No. of
stations
Length Avg. weekday ridership Annual ridership Schedule
R1 Molins de Rei – L'Hospitalet de Llobregat – Mataró/Arenys de Mar – Calella – Blanes – Maçanet-Massanes 31 95.1 km[19]
59.1 mi
102,214
(2008)[19]
39.6 million
(2008)[19]
R2 CastelldefelsGranollers Centre 14 133 km[20]
82.6 mi
125,948
(2008)[21][lower-alpha 2]
35.3 million
(2008)[21][lower-alpha 2]
R2 Nord Barcelona–El Prat Airport – Sant Celoni/Maçanet-Massanes 21
R2 Sud Sant Vicenç de Calders – Vilanova i la Geltrú – Barcelona Estació de França 17
R3 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat – Granollers-Canovelles/La Garriga – Vic – Ripoll/Ribes de Freser – Puigcerdà/Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg[lower-alpha 3] 35 161.4 km[23]
100.3 mi
22,841
(2008)[23]
6.6 million
(2008)[23]
R4 Sant Vicenç de Calders – Vilafranca del Penedès – Martorell/L'Hospitalet de Llobregat – Terrassa – Manresa 40 143 km[24]
89 mi
105,935
(2008)[24]
29.4 million
(2008)[24]
R7 (Martorell –)[lower-alpha 4] Barcelona Sant Andreu Arenal – Cerdanyola Universitat 7 13.5 km[25]
8.4 mi
8,140
(2010)[25]
1.9 million
(2010)[25]
R8 Martorell – Cerdanyola Universitat – Granollers Centre 8 40 km[26]
25 mi
? ?
R10[27] Barcelona–El Prat Airport – Barcelona Estació de França 6 22 km
13.7 mi

Camp de Tarragona commuter rail service

On 20 March 2014, Rodalies de Catalunya began running a commuter rail service in Camp de Tarragona, a region in southern Catalonia mainly centered in the polycentric metropolitan area formed by the cities of Tarragona and Reus. At the time it started services, it was the first commuter rail service in Catalonia not centered in Barcelona. The Camp de Tarragona commuter rail service consists of two lines, which are identified by letters 'RT' (the latter referring to Tarragona) plus a number, serving a total of 13 stations. Both lines converge at Tarragona railway station and are served by stopping trains only. Currently, it does not run on weekends.

Line RT1 actually serves as a reinforcement for regional services between Tarragona and Reus with 9 additional trains in each direction, allowing a service pattern of approximately 30 minutes during rush hour and lower to one hour during off-peak time between the two cities, combining all lines.[28]

On the other hand, line RT2 provides a direct service between the Baix Penedès and the Costa Daurada areas. Before the creation of the line, the L'ArboçL'Hospitalet de l'Infant route was not possible without interchanging at Sant Vicenç de Calders railway station.[6] Although line RT2 initially ran only between L'Arboç and Cambrils, from 20 June 2014 on, some trains travel further west to L'Hospitalet de l'Infant stopping at Mont-roig del Camp.[29]

Camp de Tarragona commuter rail service since 20 June 2014 (2014-06-20), including other Rodalies de Catalunya lines that also serve the area.
Rodalies de Catalunya's Camp de Tarragona commuter rail service lines (as of 20 June 2014)
Line Route Avg. weekday
frequency
No. of
stations
Length Schedule
RT1 Reus – Tarragona 18 trains per day 3 18.1 km[30]
11.3 mi
RT2 L'Hospitalet de l'Infant – Tarragona – Sant Vicenç de Calders – L'Arboç 10 trains per day 11 69.1 km[31]
42.9 mi

Girona commuter rail service

The Girona commuter rail service started services on 24 March 2014, four days after the Camp de Tarragona commuter rail service did so, becoming the second commuter rail service in Catalonia not centered in Barcelona. It consists of a single 44-station line named RG1 (letter 'G' referring to Girona), which directly links the Alt Empordà, Gironès, Selva and Maresme areas. Before the RG1 started services, its route was only possible by interchanging at Maçanet-Massanes railway station. In addition, the RG1 has improved the service pattern at stations in the Girona area.

Line RG1 is actually an extension of some trains on Barcelona commuter rail service line R1 which formerly terminated at Maçanet-Massanes.[7] Due to this fact, line RG1's L'Hospitalet de Llobregat–Mataró section, despite not serving as a Girona-centered commuter rail line, but as a Barcelona-centered one, is included as part of the Girona commuter rail service.[32][33] At the beginning, the RG1 did not run on weekends and ran exclusively between L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Figueres. However, from 20 June 2014 on, some trains travel further north towards Portbou and additional weekend services are offered during the summer season.[29]

Girona commuter rail service since 20 June 2014 (2014-06-20), including other Rodalies de Catalunya lines that also serve the area.
Rodalies de Catalunya's Girona commuter rail service lines (as of 20 June 2014)
Line Route Avg. weekday
frequency
No. of
stations
Length Schedule
RG1 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat – Mataró – FigueresPortbou 16 trains per day 40 181.2 km[34]
112.6 mi

Regional rail services

Rodalies de Catalunya's division for regional rail services consists of six lines centered in Barcelona that serve the whole of Catalonia and are sometimes extended towards the neighboring Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon and the Valencian Community as well as the French départment of Languedoc-Roussillon. Although Estació de França serves as the main terminus station in Barcelona for most regional lines, especially those traveling towards southern and western Catalonia, all of them converge at Barcelona Sants only, which serves as the center of the service.[35] The 2013 ridership for Rodalies de Catalunya's regional services was 9.267 million.[1]

Regional services run on major corridors between Barcelona and other cities in Catalonia, excluding the Barcelona–Mataró and the Barcelona–Vilafranca del Penedès corridors, which are served by Barcelona commuter rail service lines R1 and R4, respectively. In addition, none of the regional services (excepting line R12) calls at all stations near Barcelona, which are already served by the city's commuter rail service. Yet, they usually stop at almost all the stations in Barcelona city centre.[35]

The system's division for regional services is the precursor of several Renfe Operadora's Media Distancia regional lines in Catalonia, which were identified using letters 'Ca' (from the Catalan or the Spanish language form of Catalonia, Catalunya and Cataluña, respectively) plus a number.[22] With the transfer of all regional services to the Catalan government, the lines happened to be identified with letter 'R' like the already transferred Barcelona commuter rail service lines. In order to differentiate the regional lines from those that are part of the Barcelona commuter rail service, the first ones use only numbers larger than 10—currently, numbers 11–16—,[36] leaving numbers 1–10 for Barcelona commuter rail service lines.

Rodalies de Catalunya's regional lines have kept the same operating scheme just like before they were transferred, similarly to all other Renfe Operadora's Media Distancia lines around Spain. Likewise, there exist different types of train services. Specifically, the following types of train services are present in the system's division for regional lines:

Rodalies de Catalunya's regional lines (as of 24 March 2014)
Line Route Avg. weekday frequency Type of services No. of
stations
Length Previous name[22] Schedule
R11 Barcelona SantsGranollers CentreGironaFigueresPortbou/Cerbère[lower-alpha 5] 46 trains per day MD, R 28 170 km[38]
110 mi
Ca2
R12 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat – Terrassa – Manresa – Cervera – Lleida Pirineus 6 trains per day[lower-alpha 6] R 39 190 km[39]
118 mi
Ca4b
R13 Barcelona Estació de França – Vilanova i la Geltrú – Valls – Montblanc – Lleida Pirineus 4 trains per day[lower-alpha 7] R, RE 30 176 km[40]
109.4 mi
Ca4a
R14 Barcelona Estació de França – Vilanova i la Geltrú – Tarragona – Reus – Montblanc – Lleida Pirineus 5 trains per day[lower-alpha 8] R, RE 31 204 km[41]
126.8 mi
R15 Barcelona Estació de França – Vilanova i la Geltrú – Tarragona – Reus – Móra la Nova – Riba-roja d'Ebre (– Caspe) 25 trains per day R, RE 23 190 km[42]
118 mi
Ca3
R16 Barcelona Estació de França – Vilanova i la Geltrú – Tarragona – Tortosa/Ulldecona-Alcanar-La Sénia (– Vinaròs/Valencia Estació del Nord)[lower-alpha 9] 17 trains per day R, RE 19 211 km[43]
131.1 mi
Ca1

See also

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Notes

  1. Note that 2013 annual ridership figures for neither the Camp de Taragona nor the Girona commuter rail services are included because they had not been created yet.
  2. 1 2 Passenger figures for former line R2, which was split up into three lines (R2, R2 Nord and R2 Sud) on 31 January 2009.
  3. Before the service was transferred to the Catalan government, the Vic–Latour-de-Carol section was a separate regional line from the rest of current line R3 known as Ca5.[22] Because of this, and despite being officially included as part of Barcelona commuter rail service line R3, it is still operated as a regional line and its service patterns are different from the rest of the line.[23] For more information on the section's service patterns, see the 'Schedule' section provided in this table.
  4. Some early morning services commence at Martorell instead of Barcelona Sant Andreu Arenal, following the route of line R4 from Martorell to Cerdanyola del Vallès.
  5. Although all inbound services towards Barcelona commence at Portbou, most outbound Regional (R) services cross the French border and terminate at Cerbère.
  6. There are also 3 additional services between Lleida Pirineus and Cervera.
  7. There are also 2 additional services between Sant Vicenç de Calders and La Plana-Picamoixons.
  8. There is also 1 additional service between Tarragona and La Plana-Picamoixons.
  9. After having branched off towards Tortosa, some trains reverse out in order to pick up again the main line towards Valencia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Pla de transport de viatgers de Catalunya 2013-2020" [2013–2020 Passenger Transport Plan for Catalonia] (PDF) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 2014: 16. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  2. "Renfe acuerda con el Govern nombrar a Félix Martín nuevo director Rodalies de Catalunya" [Renfe agrees with the Catalan Government to designate Félix Martín as the new department chair for Rodalies de Catalunya] (in Spanish). Barcelona: Europa Press. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  3. "El Govern aprova el contracte de servei públic per a la gestió de Rodalies i Regionals fins a 2015" [The Government has passed the public service contract of the administration of commuter and regional rail services until 2015] (PDF). Sala de premsa (Press release) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  4. "Traspàs de Rodalies" [Transfer of Rodalies] (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  5. "El Ministre de Foment tanca amb el President de la Generalitat de Catalunya el traspàs dels trens regionals a la Generalitat" [The Ministry of Development has sealed an agreement with the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia on the transfer of regional trains to the Generalitat]. Secretaría de Estado de Administraciones Públicas (Press release) (in Catalan). Government of Spain. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Nou servei de rodalia del Camp de Tarragona" [New Camp de Tarragona commuter rail service]. Rodalies de Catalunya (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Girona estrena servei de rodalia el 24 de març amb connexió directa entre Figueres, Girona, Blanes i Mataró" [Since 24 March, Girona has for the first time a commuter rail service which provides a direct link between Figueres, Girona, Blanes and Mataró] (PDF). Sala de premsa (Press release) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  8. Cordero, Dani (25 August 2013). "16 millones de usuarios abandonan Rodalies por las averías y la crisis" [16 million users have left Rodalies due to its breakdowns and the crisis]. El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  9. Martorell, M.; Álvarez, P.; Hernández, M. (28 October 2013). "Una vuitantena de ferits en accidents a la xarxa de Rodalies els últims tres anys" [About 80 people have been injured in accidents on the Rodalies network during the last three years]. BTVNOTÍCIES.cat (in Catalan). Barcelona Televisió. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  10. 1 2 Anàlisi de la situació de la xarxa de Rodalies de Catalunya [Analysis on the condition of the Rodalies de Catalunya system] (PDF) (Technical report) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  11. García, Marc (1 July 2010). "Rodalies de Catalunya: un nou servei públic" [Rodalies de Catalunya: a new public service] (PDF). Butlletí d'Innovació i Recerca (Interview) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. ISSN 2014-4253. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  12. "El Gobierno constituye Adif Alta Velocidad para evitar que la deuda del AVE sume al déficit" [Adif Alta Velocidad has been established by the Government to avoid the AVE debt adding to the deficit] (in Spanish). Madrid: Agencia Europa Press. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  13. Servei de rodalia de Barcelona [Barcelona commuter rail service] (PDF) (Map) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  14. Integrated Railway Network (PDF) (Map). Autoritat del Transport Metropolità. August 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  15. "Renfe restablece conexión Barcelona-Aeropuerto" [Renfe restablishes Barcelona–Airport link] (in Spanish). EuroFerroviarios. 20 July 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  16. "La línia C-2 de Rodalies patirà els efectes de les obres de l'AVE durant dos anys" [Rodalies line C-2 to suffer the effects of the AVE construction works for two years]. 324.cat (in Catalan). Televisió de Catalunya. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  17. García i Aranzueque, Raül (5 May 2011). "R8: Nova línia de rodalies" [R8: New commuter rail line]. El Punt Avui (in Catalan). Montgat. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  18. "Es posa en funcionament la nova línia R8 de Rodalies" [New Rodalies line R8 starts services] (in Catalan). Barcelona City Council. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  19. 1 2 3 "Know line R1". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  20. Borràs, Bernat. "Línia R2 sud St.Vicenç C. - Estació de França | R2 Castelldefels - Granollers Centre | R2 nord Aeroport - Maçanet" (in Catalan). trenscat.cat. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  21. 1 2 "Know line R2". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  22. 1 2 3 Ribas Domingo, Santi; Pujol i Gil, Jordi (March 2005). "Estudi de la xarxa ferroviària de viatgers a Catalunya" [Study on the passenger rail network in Catalonia] (PDF). Planejament Territorial de Catalunya (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  23. 1 2 3 4 "Know line R3". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  24. 1 2 3 "Know line R4". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  25. 1 2 3 "Know line R7". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  26. "Know line R8". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  27. Borràs, Bernat. "R10 Barcelona - Aeroport". trenscat.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  28. "Schedule of lines RT1 and RT2" (PDF). Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  29. 1 2 "Territori i Sostenibilitat reforça la rodalia del Camp de Tarragona i la de Girona amb noves parades a partir d'aquest divendres" [The Department of Public Works has reinforced the Camp de Tarragona and the Girona commuter rail services with new stops starting on Friday] (PDF). Sala de premsa (Press release) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  30. "Get to know Line RT1". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  31. Borràs, Bernat. "Línia RT2 L'Arboç - L'Hospitalet de l'Infant" [Line RT2 L'Arboç - L'Hospitalet de l'Infant]. trenscat.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  32. "Schedule of line RG1" (PDF). Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  33. "Schedule of line R1" (PDF). Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  34. Borràs, Bernat. "Línia RG1 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat - Figueres/Portbou per Mataró i Girona" [Line RG1 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat - Figueres/Portbou via Mataró and Girona]. trenscat.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  35. 1 2 Serveis regionals [Regional services] (PDF) (Map) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  36. "Catalunya estrena el control de regionals rebatejant les línies" [Catalonia starts controlling regional services for the first time by renaming lines]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Catalan). Barcelona. 2 January 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  37. 1 2 3 Borràs, Bernat. "Rodalies de Catalunya - Serveis regionals" [Rodalies de Catalunya - Regional services]. trenscat.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  38. "Presentation of Line R11". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  39. "Presentation of Line R12". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  40. "Presentation of Line R13". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  41. "Presentation of Line R14". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  42. "Presentation of Line R15". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  43. "Presentation of Line R16". Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
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