The train is not just for going to work. It’s a no-brainer, but for many years some Rodalies lines where during the week it is totally impossible to sit, then they were rather empty on Saturday. The trend is changing and weekends are increasingly in demand.
So much so that Renfe has recorded unprecedented numbers: passengers on weekends and public holidays in June were 30% more than in the same month last year, and are already well above previous levels of the pandemic On Saturdays in June there were 12% more than in 2019 and on Sundays and holidays, 23%.
The recurring pass that allows you to travel for free in the six zones that make up the Rodalies de Catalunya network, as well as on regional trains, is a fundamental element that explains the growth, Renfe sources acknowledge. There are those who took it off to go to work and now also use it to go to the beach, and then there are those who bought it directly for leisure travel.
The good news of the increase in demand at the weekend can become a double-edged sword for Renfe, which may encounter significant crowds that could not absorb the supply of the Maresme line. Both the R1 and the Garraf line (R2) are reinforced on summer weekends. In the case of the Maresme, with more trains at peak beach time, and in the case of the Garraf, with the incorporation of the Platja de Castelldefels station in the route of 17 trains that during the rest of the year pass from long this downloader.
However, the majority of commuters still use public transport during the week. The first semester of 2023 has almost equaled the demand of 2019 in Rodalies. The 64.1 million validations registered during the first six months of the year are 23% more than last year, and almost 99% of the travelers there were before the pandemic. There are even peaks when the number of passengers is already higher. This is the case in June, when 6% more passengers were counted than in June 2019, a milestone that was also reached in December last year, when for the first time Renfe celebrated that it had surpassed the pre-pandemic figures.
Of all the forecasts that were made in 2020 about a reduction in travel, very little has remained, but Renfe has indeed detected the effects of the small number of employees who have managed to implement partial teleworking in the offices. It should be borne in mind that, if a person stays at home for a day, he makes 20% fewer trips than before. If this is not the case, Renfe would far exceed the pre-pandemic level, a challenge shared by all public transport operators. In this sense, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has broken the passenger record this year both on weekdays and on public holidays, in this case Sant Jordi’s Day, which is a Sunday.
