The R2 is a line of Rodalies de Catalunya's Barcelona commuter rail service, operated by Renfe Operadora and the Generalitat de Catalunya government. It is a major north–south axis in the Barcelona metropolitan area, running from the southern limits of the province of Girona to the northern limits of the province of Tarragona, via Barcelona. North of Barcelona, the line uses the Barcelona–Cerbère railway, running inland through the Vallès Oriental region. South of Barcelona, it uses the conventional Madrid–Barcelona railway, running along the coast through the Garraf region. The R2 had an annual ridership of 33.6 million in 2016, achieving an average weekday ridership of 125,948 according to 2008 data, which makes it the busiest line of the Barcelona commuter rail service.
All R2 trains use the Aragó Tunnel in Barcelona, where they share tracks with Rodalies de Catalunya's regional rail lines , , , and , calling at Sants and Passeig de Gràcia stations. The line originally had no branches, with and serving as its only southernmost and northernmost terminus, respectively. In 2009, it took over the service offered by Barcelona commuter rail service line , incorporating the branch lines to Barcelona–El Prat Airport and Barcelona's Estació de França. A new line scheme has been in operation ever since; the services starting or terminating at the airport run north towards Maçanet-Massanes and are designated R2 Nord ("North"), whilst the ones starting or terminating at Estació de França run south towards Sant Vicenç de Calders and are designated R2 Sud ("South"). The rest of the services, simply designated R2, operate between and .
Together with lines , and , the R2 (then simply numbered line 2) started services in 1989 as one of the first lines of the Cercanías commuter rail system for Barcelona, known as Rodalies Barcelona. In the long-term future, it is projected to take over the R4 south of Barcelona, connecting the inland regions of the Barcelona metropolitan area.
History The predecessor of the modern-day R2 started operating in 1989 as line 2 of Rodalies Barcelona, the Cercanías commuter rail system for the Barcelona area, created in the same year. Since its creation until 2009, the R2 had preserved its original line scheme with no branch lines, using only and stations as its northern and southern terminus, respectively. Due to the construction works of the new Sagrera railway station in Barcelona and the urban renewal project associated with it, the operational capacity at Sant Andreu Comtal railway station and its surroundings was restricted. Consequently, several rail services were modified, with Rodalies de Catalunya's Barcelona commuter rail service lines R2 and as the most affected. On 31 January 2009, the R10, which linked Barcelona–El Prat Airport to Barcelona's Estació de França, suspended services. The R2 then took over the service offered by the R10, incorporating the branch lines to the airport and Estació de França, and a new line scheme came into service. The R10 was initially scheduled to resume services two years later.
Accidents and incidents
On 23 June 2010, twelve people were killed and fourteen were injured when an express train ran into them as they were crossing the line at station.
On 28 July 2017, fifty-four people were injured when a R2 Sud train coming from collided with a buffer stop at Barcelona's Estació de França terminus.
Infrastructure Like the rest of Rodalies de Catalunya lines, the R2 runs on the Iberian gauge mainline railway system, which is owned by Adif, an agency of the Spanish government. All of the railway lines carrying Rodalies de Catalunya services are electrified at 3,000 volts (V) direct current (DC) using overhead lines. The R2 operates on a total line length of , which is entirely double-track, except for the single-track section between and Barcelona–El Prat Airport stations. The trains on the line call at up to 34 stations, using the following railway lines, in order from south to north:
From To Railway line Route number (PK 618) (PK 677.6) Madrid–Barcelona 200 Airport (PK 0) (PK 6.7) Airport–El Prat de Llobregat 254 (PK 99) Barcelona Estació de França (PK 106.6) Madrid–Barcelona 260 Aragó Junction (PK 108.3) (PK 113.2) Aragó Tunnel 268 (PK 113.2) (PK 175.9) Barcelona–Cerbère 270
All of the infrastructure used by the R2 is shared with other services, except the section between Barcelona–El Prat Airport and El Prat de Llobregat stations, which is exclusively used by R2 Nord services. Between and Barcelona Passeig de Gràcia stations, it shares tracks with Rodalies de Catalunya's regional rail lines , , and , as well as a number of long-distance services to southern Spain, using the Aragó Tunnel through central Barcelona. regional rail services commence their route at El Prat de Llobregat or stations, joining the route of the R2 and the other regional and long-distance services from these points on to Passeig de Gràcia. After Passeig de Gràcia, R2 Sud trains, together with the R13, R14, R15 and R16, as well as long-distance services, branch off to Barcelona's Estació de França, terminating there. The rest of R2 services continue northwards through the Aragó Tunnel, calling at El Clot-Aragó railway station, and share tracks with the R11 only. North of Mollet-Sant Fost railway station, Barcelona commuter rail service line and several freight services join their route. The R8 terminates further north at so that the R2 only shares tracks with the R11 and freight services from this point on.
Operation
All services running south of Castelldefels railway station, to the south of Barcelona, use Estació de França as their northern terminus, with or Sant Vicenç de Calders stations serving as their southern terminus, in order from north to south. The services terminating at Vilanova i la Geltrú call at all stations along their route, whilst the ones terminating at Sant Vicenç de Calders operate limited service, running non-stop between and Castelldefels, as well as and . On the other hand, all services running north of Granollers Centre railway station, to the north of Barcelona, use the airport station as their southern terminus, with or Maçanet-Massanes stations serving as their northern terminus, in order from south to north, calling at all stations. Some of the services terminating at the airport also use Granollers Centre as their northern terminus. The rest of the services on the R2 run between Castelldefels and Granollers Centre, calling at all stations, so that they terminate neither at the airport nor at Estació de França. The first trains run about 5:00 in the morning, with the latest arriving at about 1:00 at night.
The designation of the services on the line depends on the route they operate. All services terminating at the airport are designated R2 Nord ("R2 North"), whilst the services terminating at Estació de França are designated R2 Sud ("R2 South"). The Nord and Sud designations refer to the fact that such services mostly run on the line's northern and southern portion, respectively. The through services between Castelldefels and Granollers Centre are simply designated R2.
, the service routes operating on the R2 are as follows:
Line Route No. of stations Journey time Days of operation Notes R2 Castelldefels – Granollers Centre 14 1:021 h 2 min Mon–Fri Calls at all stations along its route. R2 Nord Airport – Granollers Centre 12 0:5959 min Sat–Sun Airport – Sant Celoni 17 1:211 h 21 min Daily Airport – Maçanet-Massanes 21 1:381 h 38 min Daily R2 Sud Vilanova i la Geltrú – Barcelona Estació de França 12 1:001 h Daily Sant Vicenç de Calders – Barcelona Estació de França 12 1:131 h 13 min Daily Calls at all stations along its route, excepting , , , and stations, in order from south to north. Some early morning and late night services call at all stations. In addition to the services mentioned above, which make up almost the entirety of the services running on the R2, the following services also operate on the line either in the early morning or at late night, calling at all stations (they are not listed in the table because they cannot be linked to a particular designation—R2, R2 Nord or R2 Sud): Sant Vicenç de Calders – Sant Celoni Vilanova i la Geltrú – Granollers Centre Vilanova i la Geltrú – Maçanet-Massanes Castelldefels – Barcelona Sant Andreu Comtal Castelldefels – Barcelona Estació de França Airport – Barcelona Estació de França
The line's activity gathers on its southern section, between Vilanova i la Geltrú and Barcelona, where an approximate peak-time service frequency of 10 minutes is offered. All services on the line converge on the section between El Prat de Llobregat and Barcelona Passeig de Gràcia stations, where they together offer an approximate peak-time service frequency of 8 minutes. The overall service frequency reduces as the line moves away from Barcelona, especially on the section north of Sant Celoni, where R2 Nord services only operate during the morning rush hour or at night. During the rest of the day, this section is served by regional rail line . Moreover, the services between Castelldefels and Granollers Centre only run on weekdays.
, the approximate service frequencies on the R2 are as follows:
Section Frequency Sant Vicenç de Calders – Vilanova i la Geltrú 30′ 30′ 30′ Vilanova i la Geltrú – Castelldefels 10′ 15′ 15′ Castelldefels – El Prat de Llobregat 10′ 15′ 15′ Airport – El Prat de Llobregat 30′ 30′ 30′ El Prat de Llobregat – Barcelona Passeig de Gràcia 8′ 10′ 10′ Barcelona Passeig de Gràcia – Barcelona Estació de França 10′ 15′ 15′ Barcelona Passeig de Gràcia – Granollers Centre 15′ 15′ 30′ Granollers Centre – Sant Celoni 15′ 30′ 60′ Sant Celoni – Maçanet-Massanes 60′ — —
The trains used on the R2 are Civia—specifically, the 463, 464 and 465 Series, which consist of three, four and five cars per set, respectively, 447 Series, 450 Series and 451 Series electrical multiple units (EMU). The 450 and 451 Series are technically and aesthetically identical, differing only in the number of cars per set; the first consist of six cars, whilst the latter consist of three cars. Furthermore, they consist of double-decker cars, becoming the only type of bilevel rolling stock on the Rodalies de Catalunya system. The R2 is the only Rodalies de Catalunya line where 450 and 451 Series trains operate. Normally, the 450 Series runs only on R2 Sud services between Sant Vicenç de Calders and Barcelona's Estació de França, whilst the 451 Series runs only either on R2 Sud services between Vilanova i la Geltrú and Estació de França, or on R2 services between Castelldefels and Granollers Centre stations. Civia and 447 Series trains are used interchangeably on all R2, R2 Nord and R2 Sud services on the line. On average, the trains used on the line operate a total of 216 services every day on weekdays, accounting for a ridership of 125,948, according to 2008 data.
Future