The Rodalies station in Plaza Catalunya will undergo a comprehensive rehabilitation

The Rodalies station in Plaza Catalunya will be fully rehabilitated to address some of its shortcomings, such as leaks, poor air conditioning, and excessively narrow platforms. Adif has awarded the contract for the drafting of the rehabilitation project to the company WSP Spain-Apia, for an amount of almost 896,000 euros and an execution period that will extend until mid-2023. This project will define the set of necessary actions to improve the functionality and capacity of the station.

With a daily influx of 53,000 users, the Plaza Catalunya Rodalies station is the second most important in Barcelona, only behind Sants. Three Rodalies lines (R1, R3, and R4) and medium-distance trains run on its tracks, which are wedged between those of Metro Line L1, leaving little space for passengers waiting for trains on an excessively narrow platform.

Precisely the platform is one of the elements of the station that the recently awarded contract plans to analyze how it will be reconfigured. Beyond redesigning it to make it more comfortable and able to absorb the expected increase in users for the coming years, the possibility of creating a new access that connects with the L2 Universitat metro station is contemplated, with the aim of promoting intermodality. Currently, the station is already connected to metro lines L1 and L3 and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC) trains. It will be studied whether this new connection can be made through the emergency exit on the platform in the direction of Sants.

The project will also have to evaluate the reconfiguration of the lobby, where it will be necessary to repair the pathologies that may affect the roof slab and cause leaks. The station's evacuation and ventilation systems, as well as fire protection installations, must also be reviewed.

The rehabilitation of the Plaza Catalunya station is planned in the Rodalies Plan that the Government is executing, with a planned investment of 6,346 million euros until 2030 to improve the service. Other actions included in the plan, prepared by former minister Pere Macias, are the remodeling of the Montcada Bifurcació and Castelldefels stations, and making all Rodalies stations in the Barcelona area accessible.