For years the only route on the Vic line has been the ugly duckling of the Rodalies network. When investments arrived in Catalonia there was always some priority more urgent than the R3, be it the Vilafranca line, the Garraf line, the Mediterranean corridor… After several decades of demanding the splitting of the line to gain reliability and be able to improve schedules, its time has come.
“We are closing a stage of disbelief, we can finally see the works!”, celebrates Marçal Ortuño, mayor of Torelló and vice-president of the Osona Regional Council. The vindication of local administrations and entities in defense of public transport has been constant. His cry has finally been heard, a full-fledged demonstration that those who seek well, find well, and that something is moving in Rodalies.
The mountain of ballast accumulated next to Les Franqueses station or in the Parets del Vallès car park, full of sleepers that must be installed in the stations between this municipality and La Garriga, are the most visible signs for the neighbors and the most observant from the train. All travelers on the R3 line will be aware of this from Thursday 12 October until the end of January, when traffic will be cut on this 17.1 kilometer stretch of single track to adapt to the future double track Parets, Granollers-Canovelles, les Franqueses and la Garriga stations. The work includes works in the railway area, as well as new underpasses and a modernization of the facilities. Later, next summer, the track will be doubled in the entire section, which will lead to another even longer cut.
This is the visible part, the most advanced of the comprehensive project to improve the R3 line, in which 155 million are being invested and which will be a reality in 2025 if nothing goes wrong. The rest of the sections will be left for later, each at its own pace. To the north of the section under construction, between Vic and Centelles, the informative study is already being drafted, while the one from Centelles to la Garriga has just been put out to tender and has a deadline of two and a half years. In the south, the informative study of the duplication between Mollet and Montcada was also put out to tender this summer, a stretch of particular complexity because the road is embedded in the urban fabric.
“The regret that the ministry does not invest is false, this action shows that this mantra has already been overcome”, remarks the general secretary of Infrastructure, Xavier Flores, who yesterday moved to Vic with Renfe officials and the administrator of railway infrastructures (Adif) to explain the details of the works to the mayors of the area and members of local entities. Also present were representatives of the Department of Territory of the Generalitat, led by the Secretary of Mobility, Marc Sanglas, who insisted on the usual reproaches towards the Ministry of Transport and announced a reinforcement of the express buses between Vic and Barcelona – with five more frequencies in the morning and four in the afternoon – to deal with the effects of the cut.
It is precisely the cut-off procedure that most worries the affected municipalities in the short term. On both sides of the cut, the service will remain with the usual frequencies, but those who pass through the affected section will have to combine the train and the bus.
Renfe has invested 13 million euros in an alternative bus service that covers the affected route between Mollet and Figaró and incorporates direct buses from the latter point and from Centelles to La Sagrera-Meridiana in the morning and in the opposite direction in the afternoon. In this way, they want to minimize the effects on the 12,000 travelers who use this line daily, especially those who come from further afield and already have a long journey by themselves, despite the fact that there are cases like those of the students of the University of Vic who travel from the Vallès that have been neglected and have even caused a collection of signatures.
Both Renfe and the Generalitat undertake to analyze the passenger flows of the first few days in order to adapt and strengthen the service if necessary, in order to avoid a repeat of the collapse of the buses suffered by the users of the R4 in Vilafranca during the works of the Mediterranean corridor.
