From December 9, 2022, the metro on the Vallès line of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat, FGC, will be running for the first time.
In this way, the frequency of the Barcelona-Vallès line will be increased, which will allow to connect the capital with Sabadell and Terrassa every five minutes and with Sant Cugat del Vallès every 2.5 minutes during rush hours.
The increase in the service offer, from 80 million trips per year to 110 million (an increase of 37% in the number of seats), will be possible thanks to the commissioning of 15 new trains for this line.
This is intended to enable the line to respond to increased demand and reach its maximum operating capacity.
Metro frequency on the Vallès line
Thanks to the increase in the frequency of trains per day between Barcelona and the two cities of the Vallès region, the number of trains per hour will increase from 22 to 24 trains per hour in Sant Cugat at rush hour.
In Sabadell and Terrassa direction, trains will run from 6 to 12 hours per hour. During the rest of the days, the frequency will be every ten minutes between the two cities of Vallès and Barcelona. This means that a train runs every five minutes between Barcelona and Sant Cugat.
The new schedules and frequencies will increase the number of seats on the Vallès line, one of the most congested lines at rush hour.
The congestion had been present since the Sabadell and Terrassa extensions were built and the increase in passengers was achieved in a matter of months.
In fact, before the pandemic, the section between Sant Cugat and Provença already exceeded 100% capacity.
The 15 new trains
The 15 new trains purchased from Stadler, which are already part of the line, have been incorporated into the service during the last few months.
During this time, some adjustments have been made to the information screens and air conditioning. With this, they are now ready to provide 100% service to meet the new frequencies.
In addition to these new trains, a transformation in the operation and changes in the infrastructure are also planned, even as far as Plaza Catalunya, in order to offer the service with all possible capacity.
These changes also bring line adjustments as well:
- S5 (Sant Cugat), S6 (Universitat Autònoma) and S7 (Rubí) disappear.
- Everything will be concentrated on the S1 (Terrassa) and S2 (Sabadell) which will stop at all stations on the Barcelona-Vallès line.
- The service will be complemented in the Catalan capital with L6 (Sarrià), L7 (Av. Tibidabo) and L12 (Reina Elisenda).
With these changes the Generalitat says goodbye to the semi-direct trains to increase the capacity of the line and get the most out of the infrastructure.
