Crowds at the train stations of Tarragona and Tortosa: the eclipse fever affects mobility
The roads have suffered a high influx of vehicles and some traffic jams in the early afternoon, before the astronomical event
BarcelonaThe great interest in the eclipse has also affected mobility in Catalonia, especially in the south of the country, which has been the most privileged area to view this historic phenomenon. If initially it was the roads that suffered especially from the high influx of vehicles, after the eclipse —and coinciding with the return towards Barcelona— it is the train where significant crowds have occurred. The stations of Tortosa and Tarragona are packed and Mossos and Renfe staff are managing access.
Although being the height of August many opted to leave hours or days before, from Wednesday morning and in the early afternoon, traffic jams to travel south have been repeating. The Government's main recommendation for moving around has been to try to avoid the AP-7 to prevent the saturation of this road, but nevertheless, more than 30 kilometers of queues have accumulated during the afternoon, and there have also been some on the A-2 in Martorell and on the C-31 on the Costes del Garraf.
From 8:30 PM, the main Catalan roads continue to be affected, but now in the north direction: the densest traffic is concentrated in the section between Altafulla and El Vendrell. At the moment, the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT), at the moment there are traffic jams in the AP-7 section between Santa Margarida and Els Monjos and Vilafranca del Penedès in the south direction, and 8 kilometers on the N-340 between Creixell and El Vendrell, also in the south direction. Likewise, there is slow traffic on the C-31 between Cunit and Vilanova i la Geltrú and between Cubelles and Vilanova i la Geltrú, both also in the south direction.
Traffic reports that the first disruptions began around ten in the morning on the AP-7, aggravated by two accidents that generated traffic jams in the south direction, one in Castellbisbal and another in El Papiol, the latter with 10 km of queues. Subsequently, traffic has been increasing progressively in the southern half of the country, especially on the AP-7, N-340, C-32, and C-31. In the early afternoon, a couple of accidents on the A-2 in the direction of Lleida (one in Vila-sana and another in Granyanella) have generated some queues.
Throughout the afternoon and until 7 p.m., roads such as the southern section of the AP-7, the C-32 southbound, and the N-340 were quite congested. Additionally, an accident on the C-31 in Costes del Garraf caused queues of over 10 kilometers leaving Barcelona. From 7 p.m. onwards, traffic volume decreased very rapidly, and by around 8 p.m., the time of the eclipse, traffic had almost normalized.
Problems on Rodalies
The Government's main recommendation for travel has been to try to avoid the AP-7 to prevent saturation of this route, but some have also encountered problems with trains. On the platform of Sants and Sant Vicenç de Calders stations, significant crowds of people trying to catch a train have been seen to the point that Civil Protection had to activate the pre-alert of the Ferrocat plan.
Furthermore, several users have complained on social media that inside the trains people were traveling crammed together and some had suffered dizziness due to the heat. To all this, a new incident at Castelldefels station had to be added, which caused 30-minute delays to the R2 Sud and Regionals Sud trains. At 8:40 PM, passenger flow at Sant Vicenç de Calders and Sants had normalized.
Renfe sources assured the ACN that this Wednesday the trains have been reinforced, "trying to have all those going south run in double composition." On the way back, a special reinforcement train of the R16 has been planned to facilitate the return after the eclipse, which will depart from Tortosa at 9:56 PM and is destined for Barcelona's França station, and will stop at all stations up to Sant Vicenç de Calders, and also at Vilanova i la Geltrú.