The success of the buses due to the crisis in the commuter rail system is also overflowing onto the Gran Via

BarcelonaFor over a week now, the intercity bus stop on Gran Via, located between Aribau and Muntaner streets, has been teeming with activity. From six in the evening onwards, it becomes an unstoppable hive of activity: buses double-parked, horns blaring, and passengers rushing from work to get home to the various towns in the Garraf region, where these buses serve. Where three buses used to stop, up to six now stop—double the usual number. The reason? Once again, the economic crisis and the commuter rail construction.

As ARA explained last week with the collapse of Fabra i PuigA very similar effect has occurred here on Gran Via. Railway works in the Garraf tunnels They have drastically reduced train service and forced many passengers to use buses, which has compelled the Catalan government to reinforce the service, that is, to offer more seats (and therefore more buses) on each journey. This has resulted in this stop, on one of Barcelona's main thoroughfares, becoming clearly too small, turning this stretch into a new traffic hotspot in the Catalan capital.

"The buses literally queue up to be able to reach the stop and open their doors. Sometimes the passengers inside get so nervous that some drivers have opened doors outside the stop or in a double-parked position, which poses an obvious danger in the middle of Gran Via," explains Isidre, a commuter who, after deciding to forgo (free) commuter rail travel, is once again suffering the consequences, this time on the bus.

There are problems on the road, which is saturated with buses, but also on the sidewalk. "We have to wait in line where the doors are supposed to open, but if the driver decides to open the doors while we're in line, before we even reach the stop, then we have to squeeze through to avoid missing the bus and to find a seat," explains Isidre, who says he has witnessed scenes where even the drivers are giving up space.

The users affected by this disruption are primarily those on lines E14, E15, and E16, which run to Vilanova i la Geltrú, Sitges, and Sant Pere de Ribes. According to the bus operators' association, Fecav, approximately 200 buses out of the 4,200 that enter Barcelona daily via the Gran Via's southern corridor. While not as many as those entering via Meridiana, this is enough to demonstrate, once again, the lack of infrastructure for this type of transport, as well as the need for a "well-planned" station system, according to the association's president, José María Chavarría. Currently, these more than four thousand intercity buses—in addition to another 1,500 buses operated by the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area), 226 by the Ministry of Transport, and nearly a thousand more from other services—are managed by only three major infrastructures: Estació del Nord, Estació de Fabra i Puig, and Estació de Sants, which serves as a bus yard.

The Plana Group, which operates the Garraf Bus line, also confirms with figures what it describes as a "spectacular increase." "Before the whole commuter rail crisis, we transported around 10,000 passengers daily. On days with occasional problems, that number would rise to 12,000 or 13,000. Now we're carrying around 18,000, and some days 20,000. So, in the best-case scenario, we're transporting 50% more passengers, and even then, another 50%." Vallcorba, manager of the Plana Group, adds that with 50% more demand, it's necessary to deploy 50% more buses. "The system is obviously strained; it was designed for far fewer buses," he explains. "We're always asking people to leave their cars at home, but then we have to make it easier for public transport to operate, stop, and function," he concludes.

The subway, the funnel that never stops absorbing

Sources at TMB confirm that the bottleneck on Gran Via is also noticeable at the España metro station, which acts as a natural funnel for some of these passengers. Between Monday and Wednesday of last week, the company recorded a 10% increase in ticket validations compared to previous weeks. However, it should be noted that, in addition to the problems in Garraf, the Education Fair also coincided with this period. In the case of Fabra i Puig, the metro has also become the preferred option for most passengers, and increases of 10% have also been recorded (while the average increase is around 3%). Company sources indicate that "the increase in passengers on the metro and buses is good news because it is a sign of economic growth and public confidence in public transport," although they admit that they are already working to absorb this increase with measures such as increasing service frequency during peak hours.

For its part, the bus operator sector is calling for long-term planning that goes "beyond temporary solutions." The current overcrowding, Fecav warns, is the result of years of partial actions which haven't solved the underlying problem. The Plana group is demanding both urgent and specific actions to resolve the space problem created by the alternative plans for the Garraf works, such as rethinking urban space, trimming the bushes on Gran Via to make room for passengers to disembark, and improving the distances from the previous stop at Plaça Espanya; as well as medium- and long-term measures, such as providing more Bus-HOV lanes or creating "a comprehensive national plan" to determine what model of bus stations should be implemented in Barcelona.

"It's fortunate that passengers are so exemplary in their civic-mindedness at these more problematic points, despite the overcrowding." Hats off! "For the user, because otherwise this would be a disaster," summarizes the manager of the Plana group.