The progress of works on the duplication of tracks in the Rodalies R3 line between Parets and La Garriga, one of the sections of the comprehensive duplication plan, planned between Montcada and Vic, will force interrupt the service for just over three months between the Mollet-Santa Rosa and Figaró stations. This is a guide to navigating R3 during those months.
When will the cut be?
It will happen between October 12 and the second half of January 2024. The interruption will have two phases. From October 12 there will be no service between the Mollet-Santa Rosa and Figaró stops, but from November, trains coming from L’Hospitalet de Llobregat will be able to go a little further, to Parets del Vallès, maintaining the interruption to Figaró.
What alternative do travelers have?
During this time, travelers – it is estimated to affect about 12,000 users per day– they will have a service alternative road bus. Renfe will have an alternative bus between the fallow stations andbetween 05:00 a.m. and 01:15 a.m. am.
The trains leaving Barcelona will maintain the fclassic 30 minute frequencywhich will also be taken over on weekends and holidays with a reinforcement of seven trains in each direction on the section between L’Hospitalet and Mollet (Parets starting in November).
Two direct bus routes will also be created with end and origin in La Sagrera (Barcelona): one will start from The Garriga and the other, from Centelles. Both provisional lines will operate from Monday to Friday during the morning and afternoon rush hours (6am to 9am and 4pm to 9pm) and there will be buses every half hour.
How much longer will the trip take?
Renfe does not venture to estimate how much longer the trips will last because they depend on the vicissitudes of road traffic. What they have advanced is that the device has been made “so that the transfer is quick and agile.”
Are there options to go by train to the end?
Yes. Those who prefer to continue betting on the train from origin to end, can jump to the R2 from the R3 from the stations of Mollet-Santa Rosa (Mollet Sant Fost is 1.5 kilometers away), Parets del Vallès (Montmeló stop 2.9 km), Granollers-Canovelles (Granollers Center 2.3 kilometers), Les Franqueses Vallès (station of the same name on the R2, 1.7 km) and La Garriga (Granollers Center on the R2, 11 kilometers).
What is the objective of this cut?
This impact on rail transport is the advance of a cut that will be even longer and will begin in the summer of 2024. As a whole, the work will allow unfold 18 kilometers of tracks between Parets del Vallès and La Garrigaa work that should be completed at the end of 2025 after an investment of 155 million euros. If the deadlines are met, including the cutoff planned for the summer of 2024, which will be longer than the one that begins on October 12, the double track will come into operation between these stations at the end of 2025.
The works will include not only the duplication of the tracks, but also the extension of the platforms of the affected stations (from 160 to 210 meters in length), the updating of the interlockings (the signal control system, which goes from geographical to electronic), installation of elevators in stations or the elimination of platform crossings at the same level. The 155 million will also cover and build the new Parets del Vallès station (scheduled for the end of 2026), install acoustic screens and install an enclosure for the entire route.