R2 South commuter train to recover normal service on Saturday

Catalonia's Rodalies R2 South commuter train line will recover its normal service on Saturday after the weeks of disruption caused by a train signal box fire on May 1.

The fire occurred in an Adif railway infrastructure management facility in Gavà, a coastal town not far south of Barcelona, and has since then seen fewer trains driving each hour, going from the usual six each hour and direction to four.

Renfe has also set several alternative bus routes for commuters in the last weeks.

The return to usual schedules, if no last-minute changes, will happen a day earlier than first announced by Spanish transport minister Raquel Sánchez on May 12.

Officials from Spain's transport ministry said back when the incident happened that it was "serious" and that normal service would not return to the R2 South line for "three or four weeks."

Last year, there were 148 incidents on the line, almost one every three days, according to a report from the Spanish newspaper eldiario.es. These include issues that caused 100-minute delays in one more train.