Intense flow of passengers on first day of R2 Sud disruptions

From this Monday and until Sunday, September 28, the southern rail corridor between Sitges and Gavà will be interrupted due to works at Castelldefels station.

An Alternative Transport Plan consisting of 55 buses, offering 41,000 daily seats, will compensate for the impacted services on the R2 Sud.

Direct and semi-direct buses have been planned in Sitges and Gavà so that commuter rail users can continue their journeys.

Buses have also been planned from Garraf, Platja de Castelldefels, and Castelldefels.

For regional train users, the alternative road service is direct between Cunit and the University Area of ​​Barcelona.

Intense flow of passengers

The first hours of the R2 disruptions at Gavà station have seen an intense flow of passengers in and out.

The vast majority of buses arriving in Gavà were completely full and left passengers on carrer de Barcelona, who then had to rush through the underpass to reach the train station to continue their journey to the Catalan capital.

Despite the “inconvenience” and the time lost, assessment of the bus alternative from commuters was generally positive.

“The new adventure has started quite well, but I'm sure the week will be very long,” said Anna, who was due to arrive in Barcelona at 7:40am and was still in Gavà at 7:52am.

"They should have warned us more"

The disruptions caught plenty of commuters, who were unaware of the works, off guard.

Tahia Mohamed, who lives in Reus, complained that "it cannot be the case that I have a four-hour journey from Reus” to get to her work in Barcelona.

She arrived “an hour and a half late for work” on Monday, although she admitted that she was unaware of the start of these works.

Leonel Hernández, who comes from Cunit, expressed the same opinion. “They should have warned us more,” he said.

He told the Catalan News Agency that he checked the timetables online and “the normal routes kept appearing.”

Hernández also suggested improving the management of the queues to get on the buses.

Authorities pleased with management

Rail operator Renfe and the Catalan government have positively assessed the first hours of the alternative bus service.

“In each episode of disruptions, we see things that can be improved, and we are able to better fine-tune the plans,” general director of Transport and Mobility, Susi López, told reporters.

She assured that since the major service cut at Roda de Berà, they have made “a lot” of progress in organizing alternative road plans for commuters.

Renfe pointed out that this week was chosen to undertake the works as the holidays of Santa Tecla and La Mercè fall this week, resulting in an expected drop in commuters.

At the same time, the rail operator and the Catalan government are asking to reduce non-essential mobility, which they estimate is 50% of journeys.