Face wash for Rodalies: more rapid investments at stations to improve user experience

BarcelonaQuick and not excessively expensive actions at stations so that users begin to notice that something is improving. This is one of the lines of work that the Government has opted for to try to regain citizen confidence in Rodalies after its annus horribilis. The Government, the ministry, Renfe, and Adif have now announced the deployment of a plan for millionaire works, spread across various stations, which aims to transform these transit points into "decent" infrastructures while the major works, which will take years to complete and show results, are not yet underway.

"The station is the gateway to the system and its comfort speaks of what the user will find afterwards," assures the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque. Thus, the authorities forming the mixed company have detailed how at least part of the 760 million euros planned for the 2026-2027 biennium will be spent. They detail that there are currently about ten new stations in project (many already planned in the Rodalies Plan), such as Bellissens in Reus, with an investment of 10 million euros; there are also about fifteen more that will undergo major integral modernizations, such as Molins de Rei, where works have resumed with an investment of over 9 million euros after being halted for two years. Llinars del Vallès or Santa Perpètua de Mogoda - La Florida will also receive a good injection to be remodeled, with 2.9 and 2.2 million euros respectively. Paneque also wanted to highlight some works in progress where, she says, the changes are already apparent, such as Sants, "where the space allocated to Rodalies is increased by 85% and a station grows with a global investment of 150 million euros," the minister points out. In addition, there are at least 10 more stations that are already in the project drafting phase.

In addition to these larger investments, actions planned under the ministry's "A punto" plan have also been scheduled, which include various facelifts with much smaller investments, around 300,000 euros per station. The objective, in most cases, is to make aesthetic, comfort, or functional improvements in the lobbies, but which, according to Minister Paneque, will also have a great impact on the user. These are interventions in flooring, LED lighting, and painting in stations such as Sitges, Fabra i Puig, Sabadell Sud, Vilanova i la Geltrú, or Sant Celoni. These improvements are expected to begin execution this summer and the works will extend until January of next year.

Transfer of stations

All these faster measures in the halls have already been programmed within the context of the Rodalies transfer. In fact, Paneque explained that, beyond the tracks, the Government also wants to request that the transfer include the stations, to be able to manage them from the proximity. Currently, train stations in Catalonia are, in large part, owned by Adif, although Renfe also owns some.

"We want to work to transfer the stations; it is a priority, but there is still no date or timetable," the minister clarified. "The transfer [of the stations] should be relatively easy, more so than that of the tracks, and therefore we will deal with it in the coming months," she detailed. All of this would be done following the same model that has already been initiated with the R1. According to Paneque, the transfer of this first line is already "very advanced" and will include the ownership of both the trains and the tracks, as well as the stations.