Major Disruption On Catalonia’s R3 Line: Thousands Of Buses To Replace Trains From October

Rail passengers successful Catalonia are being warned to brace for semipermanent disruption arsenic Renfe and Adif hole to adjacent a cardinal agelong of nan R3 Rodalies statement for awesome modernisation works. Starting  October 7, trains betwixt Parets del Vallès and La Garriga will extremity moving for 16 months, pinch 43,500 regular autobus seats provided to support commuters moving.

Thousands of buses to switch trains connected R3

The R3 line, which links Barcelona pinch nan interior of Catalonia, will acquisition a long-awaited double-tracking task to easiness congestion and amended reliability. The works, covering 17 kilometres betwixt Parets and La Garriga, are expected to past until January 2027.

In nan first phase, from October 2025 until May 2026, train services will beryllium suspended betwixt Montcada-Bifurcació and La Garriga. During this period, Renfe will run a fleet of 58 buses moving up to each 10 minutes astatine highest times. Three nonstop routes will link Centelles, La Garriga and Parets pinch Barcelona, alongside a work that will extremity astatine each section stations.

The replacement autobus services will terminate astatine Barcelona’s Fabra one Puig station, offering passengers onward connections pinch nan metro (L1) and different Rodalies lines.

What happens aft 2026?

Once nan first shape is complete, attraction will displacement to nan agelong betwixt Mollet Santa Rosa and La Garriga. This 2nd phase, group to tally until January 2027, will proceed to trust connected extended autobus services.

Direct buses will nexus Centelles and La Garriga pinch Barcelona, arsenic good arsenic Centelles pinch Mollet Santa Rosa. In addition, a stopping work will guarantee smaller towns connected nan way stay connected.

While disruptive, nan €multi-million upgrade is seen arsenic captious to tackle chronic overcrowding connected nan R3 and to align nan work pinch increasing request successful nan Vallès region.

Other Catalonia obstruction useful to watch

The R3 closure is conscionable 1 portion of a engaged almanac of railway upgrades crossed Catalonia.

• Castelldefels station: The caller position is owed to unfastened astatine nan extremity of September, reorganising tracks connected nan R2 South and location lines to trim bottlenecks. During works, services betwixt Gavà and Sitges will beryllium replaced by buses moving each 10–15 minutes.
• Vic station: A short closure connected October 4–5 will impact trains betwixt Vic and Balenyà-Tona-Seva. Renfe will supply 10 replacement buses.
• Montcada one Reixac tunnel: A 4 km, three-track passageway is nether building to region level crossings. Works on  September 20–21 will spot trains suspended betwixt Mollet-Sant Foix and Barcelona-Sant Andreu.
• Catenary renewal connected R11: Sections betwixt Figueres and Portbou will beryllium closed connected respective weekends successful September, October and November, pinch 22 buses deployed each time.
• Garraf passageway maintenance: From January, trains betwixt Garraf and Sitges will beryllium disrupted for 3 months owed to basal useful connected sea-exposed structures.

A agelong hold for smoother journeys

For regular passengers, nan thought of astir 2 years of disruption whitethorn beryllium daunting. But railway chiefs insist nan useful will bring a ‘step change’ successful reliability and capacity erstwhile completed.

When nan double-tracking is vanished successful early 2027, trains will yet beryllium capable to tally much often and pinch less delays – a long-overdue betterment for 1 of Catalonia’s busiest commuter routes.

Until then, travellers will person to get utilized to buses, patience and plentifulness of traffic.

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