The doubling of the Rodalies line R3 between Montcada Bifurcació and Vic, a long-demanded action that never seemed to be activated, finally has all the sections in the pipeline, either through tenders -or prior authorizations- of informative studies or construction projects , phases already in drafting and even works or about to start. The forecast of those responsible for the Ministry of Transport is that the entire route, 59 kilometers long, will be in service in 2030. So, the trip between the Barcelona Sants station and the one in the capital Osona, which today requires one hour and twenty minutes in the best of cases, will remain in an hour. An improvement that, in addition, will lead to greater reliability of the service in the event of a breakdown, since the trains, which now run on a single track, will have alternative steps.
Three performances in recent days leave the R3 folder on track. The last one takes place this Monday, the day that Transport plans to publish on the state contracting platform the next tender for the contract for the drafting of the informative study on the doubling of the La Garriga-Centelles section, which is the most complicated from a environmental point of view and for which the ministry has not given a cost estimate. The highlight is a new tunnel variant of about five kilometres. Although it is much further north, the procedure includes drafting a feasibility study for a new station in Torelló.
Another intervention just announced last Friday is the urban integration of a duplicate line in Mollet, valued at 80 million euros, in which a new station stands out, more central than the current one in Santa Rosa, which it will replace. In addition, new underpasses will be opened and a section will be covered to give rise to a green area of ??one hectare. This action will start with the drafting of a construction project whose drafting is expected to be put out to tender this autumn without having to carry out an informative or environmental impact study beforehand.
The third action is the tender, announced on Wednesday, for the drafting of the informational study of the duplication between Montcada Bifurcació and Mollet Santa Rosa, which has a special complexity because it will incorporate a functional study on the northern accesses of Barcelona to see, among other questions, if the R3 goes towards the tunnel of Calle Aragó (Passeig de Gràcia station) or Plaza Catalunya. The preparation of these documents will require 36 months.
The rest of the sections are in different stages of development. Last May, the remodeling works of the Montcada-Bifurcació station were awarded for 33.7 million. The one in Parets already has an approved construction project and an estimated cost of 17.8 million. The intention is to tender the works this year.
The Parets-La Garriga section is already under construction to double it for a value of 64 million. Initially it was planned to cut its circulation this summer, but it will be done in two phases in autumn and in 2024. Further north, for Centelles-Vic, the informative study is being drafted that is expected to be completed before the end of the year. It is also a complex area that includes three layout alternatives with costs between 110 and 190 million.
At the southern entrance to Vic there is a 1.2 kilometer section that is already doubling by 4.8 million. It is an important performance for the operation of the trains. Finally, outside the area of ??the doubling, in Ripoll, a provisional workshop (3.8 million) for trains is being built for when the service is cut between Parets and La Garriga. A definitive maintenance base is also foreseen, for a value of 16.6 million, which has a project and work tendered in May.
