After more than 30 years of waiting, different governments, investment announcements and unfulfilled schedules and, unfortunately, 180 deaths, run over by the train, there is now a date for the start of works. The long-awaited burial of the R-2 railway line as it passes through Montcada i Reixac will begin next Monday, January 29. As announced yesterday by Mayor Bartolo Egea (PSC), that day the prospecting tastings will begin in the Ribera neighborhood. The burial is expected to last seven years and will involve an investment of 540 million euros, to which a further 30 million must be added for the adaptation of the Montcada Bifurcació station.
“Now we can say that we have buried the R-2,” the mayor announced, elated, although he demanded “patience from the citizens” because years of inconvenience, noise, dust and mobility problems are coming, derived from the works. The burial will serve to unite and sew up this open wound that is the Renfe tracks and the different level crossings that separate neighborhoods, schools, CAPs, municipal facilities and even police stations. To monitor, a municipal office will be created, with the participation of all political groups represented in the plenary session, entities and neighborhood associations.
The new local government (PSC, Vivim and PP), accompanied by representatives of the Roundtable for Undergrounding, crossed the barriers with a large red banner with the motto “Ara si, soterrem!” to celebrate what they described as a “historic moment.” “We are starting a stage with great enthusiasm, but it will be accompanied by circumstances such as street closures and dust,” said the spokesperson for the Tracte Just Platform, Soterrament Total, Anna Solano, who also called for “prudence due to how difficult it is.” “It will be crossing the tracks.” The platform, which has not stopped fighting in decades, together with the different local governments, assured that it will continue to “ensure” that the schedules and execution of the project are met with full guarantee.
The demand dates back to the late 1980s, when Montcada i Reixac began to ask for a restructuring of the infrastructure that crosses it: the C-17, the C-33 highway and several railway lines. The final project was approved in 1991 and in 2000 Fomento gave its approval to the informative study for high speed. The Rodalies 2020-2030 plan incorporated undergrounding in the first five years of validity, the remodeling of the Montcada Bifurcació station and the planning of the third track of the Montcada-Mollet line.
