Crowds at Tarragona and Tortosa train stations: the eclipse fever affects mobility

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 see this historic phenomenon. If initially the roads were the ones that suffered especially from the high influx of vehicles, after the eclipse — and coinciding with the return in the direction of Barcelona — it is the train where significant crowds have occurred. The stations of Tortosa and Tarragona are packed to the brim and Mossos and Renfe staff are managing access.

Although being full August many opted to leave hours or days before, since this Wednesday morning and in the early afternoon hours, 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 this road from becoming saturated, but more than 30 kilometers of queues have nevertheless 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.

Since 8:30 p.m., 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 Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT), at the moment there are traffic jams in the section of the AP-7 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.

Trànsit reports that the first incidents 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 progressively increasing in the southern half of the country, especially on the AP-7, the N-340, the C-32 and the C-31. Early in the 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 stretch of the AP-7, the C-32 heading south, and the N-340 were quite heavily loaded. Furthermore, an accident on the C-31 in Costes del Garraf caused queues of more than 10 kilometers leaving Barcelona. From 7 p.m. onwards, traffic volume decreased very rapidly, and around 8 p.m., the time of the eclipse, traffic had almost returned to normal.

Problems on Rodalies

The Government's main recommendation for getting around has been to try to avoid the AP-7 to prevent this road from becoming saturated, but some have also encountered problems with the train. On the platforms of Sants and Sant Vicenç de Calders stations, there were significant crowds of people trying to catch a train, 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 delays of 30 minutes on the R2 Sud and Regionals Sud trains. At 8:40 PM, passenger flow at Sant Vicenç de Calders and Sants had normalized.

Renfe sources have assured the ACN that this Wednesday the trains have been reinforced, "trying to have all those going south circulate in double composition." On the return journey, a special reinforcement train for the R16 has been planned to facilitate the return after the eclipse, which will depart from Tortosa at 9:56 PM and head to Barcelona's França station, and will stop at all stations until Sant Vicenç de Calders, and also at Vilanova i la Geltrú.