A year ago I read in the Barcelona newspapers that, in mid-2023, the remodeling works on the Estació de Sants would begin. According to what they said, in a first phase they would take care of the station lobbies and the Països Catalans square. We are at the end of October of the twenty-third and I do not observe any movement of works at the station. I am another user of long-distance trains and I never cease to be surprised every time I get on or off one of those trains, arriving or leaving Barcelona. This infrastructure It is not at the level of a self-respecting, modern and cosmopolitan city. Stations in large cities are usually bustling; This year it is expected to receive more than 58 million passengers in Sants and it is normal that, with what we have now, it is completely insufficient. It is especially serious the boarding and disembarkation area. The entrances are narrow, with stops with very wide columns that force passengers boarding the train to line up, sometimes having to get dangerously close to the tracks. The temperature, especially in summer, is more typical of a microwave than a season.
The heat given off by the machines’ engines causes a distressing and unbreathable environment, not only because of the heat but also because of the poor quality of the air that accumulates in that underground. There are few stairs for the number of passengers leaving and entering, Few and small elevators. However, I am afraid that this part of the station, for me the one that needs the most remodeling, will not see any changes. It will be in the lobbies on the ground floor and in the outside plaza, which will do very well to leave behind that attempt at a metal garden that was proposed to us and that has never embellished anything. I trust that the project, which should be completed in 2030, do not delay and this is not the start date of some urgent and necessary works.