Barcelona-Girona high speed rail line has nine times more travelers than the Barcelona-Tarragona route
The high speed railway line that connects Girona to Barcelona registered 1.01 million travelers throughout 2016. That is the same volume of passengers that went from Catalonia’s capital city to Tarragona over the last nine years according to statistics provided by Renfe, the Spanish train operator. Barcelona is not only connected to Girona and Tarragona; Avant trains also travel to Lleida. This route has also been a great success in 2016, used by 4.03 million passengers. Altogether 10.7 million people have traveled from the four Catalan provincial capitals since 2008. 2016 was the most successful year with 2.05 million travelers.
Barcelona (ACN).- The high speed railway line that connects Girona to Barcelona registered 1.01 million travelers throughout 2016. That is the same volume of passengers that went from Catalonia’s capital city to Tarragona over the last nine years according to statistics provided by Renfe, the Spanish train operator. Barcelona is not only connected to Girona and Tarragona; Avant trains also travel to Lleida. This route has also been a great success in 2016, used by 4.03 million passengers. Altogether 10.7 million people have traveled from the four Catalan provincial capitals since 2008. 2016 was the most successful year with 2.05 million travelers.
Last year more than a million people used Girona’s high speed railway line, while only 143.000 travelled to or from Tarragona. It has been nine years since the inauguration of the Avant in Catalonia, a high-speed train designed for medium distance commutes. From 2008, those trains have carried 10.7 million users with an average 80% occupancy rate. Another positive fact is that punctuality is above 98%.
Barcelona is not only connected to Girona and Tarragona; Avant trains also travel to Lleida. This route has also been a great success in 2016, used by 4.03 million passengers. Altogether 10.7 million people have traveled from the four Catalan provincial capitals since 2008. 2016 was the most successful year with 2.05 million travelers.
High speed railway evolution in Catalonia
The worst year for Avant service was 2012, when there was an 11.1% decrease in passengers due to the economic crisis. Fortunately, 2013 was a better year thanks to the inauguration of the Barcelona-Girona-Figueres rail line. Almost half a million people traveled to Figueres, a mandatory connection stop for traveling on to France.
The first year of service between Barcelona and Lleida, which was 2008, ended with 339,500 users. In only a year there were almost half a million users, but this dropped to 410,000 last year. These numbers are four times as many travelers as those who travel between Barcelona and Tarragona.
One possible cause for these figures is the fact that Girona’s station is located in the city centre, while the Tarragona station is far away from the urban area, making the journey less convenient.