Sagrera station construction to disrupt service on R1, R2N, and R11 lines for three months
Almost a fifth of commuters use lines on average workday
Three Rodalies train lines – R1, R2N, and R11 – will be affected by service disruptions from September 17 to December 10 as construction on the new Sagrera station in Barcelona enters its "most complex" phase, Spain's transport ministry warned on Monday.
The works in the period will be aimed at laying the definitive tracks for the Barcelona-Granollers-Girona line by the end of the year as well as opening the new Sant Andreu Comtal station, which should be ready by December 11.
"It would be impossible to do this construction without service disruptions and affecting users," Spanish infrastructure official Xavier Flores said.
Service disruptions on Rodalies train lines, which are free from September to December, have been a longstanding complaint in Catalonia, where last Friday alone 80,000 commuters were affected by a telecommunications breakdown that halted all lines except high-speed trains entirely between 5 am and 8 am.
Almost a fifth of Barcelona area commuters
Almost a fifth of commuters use the three three lines on an average workday.
Adif, the Spanish rail infrastructure administrator, said it was "aware" of how important the three lines were to the rail network in Catalonia, and would be working on an "alternative transport plan" that will be able to be found online on September 13.
Over 41,400 commuters use the R1 on weekdays, with around 30,400 taking it on weekends, while the R2N and R11 see almost 31,600 on weekdays and 21,200 on Saturdays and Sundays.
R2N and R11 disruptions
The R2N and R11 will be the most affected lines over this three-month period. Over the weekend of September 17 to 18, these trains will stop at Montcada i Reixac, where commuters will have to take a bus to Sagrera station, from where they will have to take a different line to get to their destination.
But after then, and until December 2, the trains will stop at Sant Andreu Comtal and the R11 will stop at every station until Granollers Centre. This means that for two months, passengers traveling to the Barcelona city center will have to take the metro. There will also be a bus service to Sagrera station.
Commuters traveling from Granollers will be able to take the bus to Sagrera in the morning and evening on weekdays.
And from December 3 to 10, the new trains will depart and end up at Montcada i Reixac, where there will also be a complementary bus service.
R1 disruptions
There will only be occasional disruptions to the R1 train line's service. Catalonia's oldest train line, connecting Barcelona to the Maresme county, it will only be affected over three weekends: September 17-19, October 29-30, and November 12-13, when they will start and end in Badalona, meaning passengers will have to take the metro if they wish to go to Barcelona.