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Catalunya maps out the future of the train with 63 measures to transform mobility
Thousands of people depend on the train every day to get to work, study, or travel around the metropolitan area. That is why any change to the rail network has a direct impact on daily life. The Generalitat has just approved the new Estrategia Ferroviaria de Catalunya, a roadmap that aims to organise the future of the system and address one of the major outstanding challenges: regaining users’ trust.
The document brings together 63 measures that will set railway priorities for the coming years. Although it includes major long-term projects, the main message is clear: before expanding the network, the operation of the existing one must be improved.
The main concern remains Rodalies. Delays, incidents, and reliability problems have made the service one of the biggest sources of frustration for daily train users. That is why much of the initial action will focus on strengthening infrastructure, reviewing services, and improving the operational capacity of the network.
Among the projects regaining prominence is the Línea Orbital Ferroviaria, an infrastructure designed to connect cities in the metropolitan area without having to pass through Barcelona. The idea is to make journeys between municipalities such as Mataró, Granollers, Sabadell, Terrassa, Martorell, or Vilanova i la Geltrú more direct, reducing travel times and easing congestion on lines that cross the centre.
The strategy also brings back initiatives such as the Eix Transversal Ferroviari and the development of new territorial tram-trains, hybrid models that aim to improve connections between medium-sized cities and areas with less rail coverage. The goal is for the train to gain ground over private vehicles for journeys that still depend too much on the car.
This commitment comes at a time of demographic growth and pressure on metropolitan mobility. More and more people live outside Barcelona but work, study, or carry out activities in different parts of the territory. The current rail network, largely designed with Barcelona as its centre, struggles to respond to these new mobility patterns.
The Estrategia Ferroviaria does not mean that all projects will be built immediately. Many will require years of planning, funding, and execution. However, it does set a clear political direction for how rail transport in Catalunya should evolve over the coming decades.
For those who use Rodalies every morning, the big question remains the same: when will improvements to the daily service be noticeable? In the meantime, the Generalitat is trying to combine urgent solutions for the current network with a more ambitious long-term vision. Because the success of any major rail project will depend, to a large extent, on something much simpler: the train arriving when it is supposed to.