Three new AVE high-speed rail stations to be built in Girona, Reus, and Vilafranca del Penedès

The government has approved a new Railway Strategy of Catalonia plan, which foresees constructing three new high-speed rail stops by 2050.

The whole plan has 63 measures, including new intermodal stops at Girona and Reus airports, and in Vilafranca del Penedès.

Other objectives include improving the reliability of trains and the network, increasing intermodality between different means of transport, increasing freight by train, promoting companies in the railway sector, and promoting railway vocational training.

The document also proposes infrastructures such as the Transversal Railway Axis or the Orbital Railway Line (R9), two "future" railway axes that seek to replicate the road network, according to the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque. 

Competitiveness of the railway services will be gained with increases in the speed of regional trains and by establishing semi-direct trains. 

The document comes from the authorities' plans for the new Catalan railway model after the Rodalies network is transferred to come under Catalan control.

It also takes into account expected future population growth, from the current 8.1 million to 10 million by 2050.

The Railway Strategy of Catalonia calls for training in the railway sector to be strengthened with vocational training, the creation of training cycles, and the facilitation of the incorporation of women.

Railway investment in Catalonia in the last 25 years has been around €30 billion, which came from nearly equal parts between the Spanish and Catalan governments.