The incessant increase in high-speed train travelers leaving or arriving in Barcelona is pushing Sants station to the limit of its capacity. It is the collateral effect of the liberalization of the sector, which has led to the entry of Ouigo and Iryo as competitors of Renfe and has lowered ticket prices at the same time as it has shot up the number of passengers who bet on the train.
At the peak of the day, up to 3,100 travelers are registered per hour. Those in the longest queue are going to Madrid, on one side are waiting those heading to Girona, beyond those who have a journey of more than six hours to Paris… the situation is tense to the max, about to collapse lapse, it is noticeable in a lobby that was never thought of for all this. 15 years ago there were 17 trains throughout the day, now there are at least 44 every day, with times of the day when three trains leave in a row bound for Madrid in just ten minutes.
Although the Sants station had been clamoring for reform for years, it has been the explosion of high speed that has turned the expansion into an urgent matter that cannot be postponed. But the project is still being drafted and the start of the works is still missing, so the railway infrastructure administrator (Adif), as manager of Barcelona’s main station, has had no choice but to improvising and patching wherever he could in the last few months to try to resolve the situation. Every few weeks they move pieces to scratch a few square meters here and there to give some air to queues that are getting longer every day.
The most relevant action in recent months has been the opening of a new entrance to the high-speed zone from one of the sides to ease the central access from the lobby. With this new access control to enter the boarding hall, the flow of passengers is divided and thus reduces the burden borne by the traditional entrance. The security control was enabled very quickly in a provisional way months ago and since this summer it has already become permanent. If at first passengers were diverted there depending on the track on which their train was parked, it has finally been decided to allow the entry of all passengers, regardless of the train they take.
To this new entrance, named C, is added a third (the B) on the other side of the hall that is only opened at specific times and that is considered fast-track, a quick access that enable if a football team or a large group arrives on time.
At the same time, the central corridor that joined the two sides of the station has been closed to incorporate it into the high-speed space. The idea is to turn it into a new exit route to add to the escalators and the only existing door so far. The closure of the corridor has forced Renfe’s customer service offices and Adif’s assistance services for passengers with disabilities to move. In turn, the Renfe Club lounge (accessible to passengers with first class tickets) has changed its entrance and from now on it is accessed once the security checks have been passed, as is the case in Atocha.
In addition to the new accesses, a small extension work has been carried out which has made it possible to gain almost ten meters of width for the waiting area in a section of 55 meters that used to be part of the pavement that faced the Joan Peiró square. In this same area, one of the three entrance doors to the station was closed years ago to shield the space intended for high speed. During the day the alarm goes off several times at the emergency exits there because more than one person opens it from the inside thinking they can go outside to smoke or tries to force it from the outside to enter by mistake .
Adif sources frame these works in the previous phase of the major terminal remodeling project. “The main objective of this preliminary phase is to expand the accesses and useful space of the boarding hall of high-speed services to ensure better management of high-speed passenger flows and facilitate faster access , comfortable and agile on the platforms”, point out from the infrastructure manager.
The search for more space to improve passenger access is a turning point in the approach that Adif had taken to Sants in recent years. The wide hall between the high-speed zone and the Rodalies zone, which used to be transparent, gradually became filled with shops and commercial establishments of all kinds: underwear, Barça shirts, sunglasses, creams, hams… . The infrastructure manager tried to take advantage of the commercial vein, with desirable economic performance, imitating the Aena model at airports, until it had to close instead of open in order to be able to fit all the pieces of the station puzzle.
This summer, for the first time, instead of adding shops, one – Barça’s – has been removed from the central island and its place has been occupied by seats for travelers waiting their turn to access in the boarding area, since another of the measures that have been taken is to limit access to a maximum of one hour before the train arrives to prevent the most prudent from taking up the space of those arriving with the right time
The small adaptation works are carried out gradually, always making them compatible with the normal operation of the station. The idea is to continue to advance in this line as much as possible. “The current situation will be extended depending on the solutions that are defined in the first comprehensive remodeling project of the station”, acknowledge from Adif, pending the drafting of the project that concretizes the plans designed by the renowned study of RCR architecture and Sener and Fhecor engineering. The first phase, which must start in a matter of months, plans to invest 130 million euros before 2026, which if not executed will be lost, since they depend on European funds. Then it is expected to have a real expansion of the halls, with 36,000 m2 more for a new waiting room. The building will grow on both fronts and the facades on the mountain side and the sea side will open to the city to make it more permeable.
The bulk of the action will last until 2030 with an estimated investment of 410 million. This second phase will include a second floor designed for commercial activity, more green areas and the remodeling of Plaça dels Països Catalans, which will maintain its essence, but will be equipped with green areas around it and will be converted into a taxi rank and the arrivals area in an underground road.
