The new Rodalies control centre at Estació de França will open before summer

The Rodalies control centre at Estació de França will open before the summer. The Generalitat and the State are finalising the joint venture. The doubling of the R3 will be prioritised. Improvements in management and coordination are expected. Discover all the details and next steps.

The long-awaited Rodalies control centre, jointly managed by Adif and Renfe at Estació de França, will begin operating before the summer. This opening comes at a key moment, marked by the imminent creation of the joint venture between the Generalitat and the State, expected at the beginning of the year. Sílvia Paneque, spokesperson and councillor, has explained that the new centre will prioritise the full doubling of the R3 line, one of the major challenges facing the Catalan rail network.

Paneque has explained that the establishment of the joint venture has been delayed by scheduling issues, but says that the names of the board members have already been decided and that they will have both institutional and rail experience. The councillor stresses that this new structure will allow closer, more direct management, both in the transfer of powers and in day-to-day operations.

The Estació de França control centre seeks to improve coordination between Renfe and Adif, optimising the service for users. In addition, the current control centre at Clot station will remain operational, thus strengthening network management.

Regarding service reliability, Paneque has stated that between 20% and 25% of incidents on Rodalies are due to the condition of the trains. She therefore welcomes the arrival of new rolling stock from next year, which will make it possible to increase capacity and improve passenger comfort.

The R3 line will be the focus of the next major works, with closures planned to advance its doubling. Although there is still no fixed timetable, the aim is to speed up the end of the single track and prevent the process from dragging on. In addition, the government is considering work in the Garraf tunnels.

Regarding the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat airport, Paneque has said that the outstanding environmental compensations are being finalised and that they are confident of meeting European requirements to approve the expansion. On the governance of the infrastructure, the councillor considers that the Catalan government’s participation must increase and hopes there will be specific developments in the first quarter of 2026, in collaboration with ERC, the commons, the ministry and Aena.