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Catalonia brings back the orbital line to connect cities without passing through Barcelona
The Generalitat is once again putting one of Catalonia's most ambitious railway projects on the table: the orbital line. The idea is simple to explain but enormous to carry out: to connect towns in the third and fourth metropolitan rings without always having to go through Barcelona.
The plan, revived after years of paralysis, foresees about 120 kilometres of track and an estimated investment of 5.2 billion euros. Its aim is to change a logic that has shaped Catalan mobility for decades: almost everything ends up going in and out of the capital, even when the actual journey is between outlying cities.
This radial structure complicates daily life for many people who travel between towns such as Mataró, Granollers, Sabadell, Terrassa, Martorell, Vilafranca or Vilanova. In many cases, the train does not offer a competitive direct connection and the car remains the fastest option, even though this leads to traffic jams, emissions and dependence on major metropolitan roads.
The orbital line aims to tackle precisely this problem. If the project moves forward, it would link urban and industrial hubs without passing through the centro de Barcelona, easing some of the pressure on Rodalies and giving more railway weight to areas that have seen significant population and economic growth in recent decades.
The revival of the project comes with the new 2025-2050 infrastructure plan and responds to a longstanding demand from town councils, mobility organisations and municipalities that feel too dependent on the capital. Manel Nadal, one of the historic promoters of the proposal, is once again placing this project at the centre of the debate on how Catalonia should move in the next twenty years.
Even so, the timetable will not be quick. An infrastructure of this scale requires studies, territorial agreements, funding and complex planning up to 2041. There will also be debate about routes, priorities and phases, especially in areas where building new tracks could have an urban or environmental impact.
The orbital line is not just another railway project. It is a different way of understanding the territory: less focused on Barcelona as an obligatory stop and more adapted to a reality where many people live, work and study in cities connected to each other. For thousands of users, the change could mean shorter journeys, fewer transfers and a metropolitan network much closer to real life.