The R1, R2Nord, R3, R4, R7, and R8 lines are operating with cut sections and alternative buses. The tunnel at Plaça Catalunya remains pending reopening and high-speed services continue to be interrupted.
The Catalan railway network starts the week without having recovered normality. Six Rodalies lines, the R1, R2Nord, R3, R4, R7, and R8, are operating with cut sections and alternative road services, according to Renfe. High-speed services remain interrupted and the Barcelona Metro is experiencing issues on many of its lines.
The most complicated situation is in the Maresme. The R1 is not operating between Arenys de Mar and Maçanet-Massanes, a section covered by coaches while Adif completes the white runs, the journeys with trains without passengers that certify the track is safe. The line only reaches Badalona and does not cross the Sant Adrià de Besòs bridge. From there, travellers must connect with the L2 of the Metro to reach the centre of Barcelona.
The tunnel at Plaça Catalunya, partially flooded on Sunday, remains closed. Adif has worked overnight with three pumps to extract the water, according to information provided by moncloa.com.
In the Vallès, the R2Nord is not functioning between Granollers and Sant Celoni, with a road service in place. The most delicate point is a collapsed slope between Granollers and Cardedeu: the public company hopes to recover one of the two tracks throughout the day. The R11 is also not operating and maintains buses between Maçanet-Massanes and Portbou.
The R3 has two cuts: the usual one between L'Hospitalet and La Garriga, and a new one between Ripoll and Puigcerdà, meaning trains only connect La Garriga and Ripoll. The R4 is only functioning between Sant Vicenç de Calders and the Sants station, with a bus service between Terrassa and Manresa. For the central section, Renfe redirects travellers to line buses and to the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, which is operating normally. The most damaged segment is between Terrassa and Sabadell, with repairs pending on weather conditions.
The R7 (Montcada Bifurcació-UAB) and R8 (Martorell-Granollers) lines remain completely interrupted, with buses covering their entire route. In the case of the R8, sources from Adif explain that checks have already been completed and the infrastructure is ready for Renfe, which must certify safety before trains can return to the tracks.
No line has emerged unscathed from the wettest weekend the Catalan network has ever seen.
The impact is not limited to Rodalies. The Barcelona Metro is experiencing sections without service and bus lines limited due to flooding. The services that are functioning include the R2Sud, the Regional services from the south (R15, R16, R17), and the Rodalies services from Tarragona (RT1 and RT2).
In Ponent, the situation is different. The R13 and R14 lines maintain normal service between Lleida and Les Borges Blanques and operate with buses to Sant Vicenç de Calders due to a cable theft two months ago that severely damaged the infrastructure. The Rodalies services from Lleida (RL3 and RL4) are running fully between Lleida, Cervera, and Manresa, as they have throughout the rain episode.
Saturday was the rainiest day on record in Barcelona and its metropolitan area, according to available records. The human toll is harsh: two fatalities in Tordera and Montornès and one missing person in Pineda de Mar. In the Vallès Oriental, the Bombers de la Generalitat rescued several drivers trapped by water in Granollers and Canovelles.
This is not the first time an extreme rain episode has left the Catalan railway network on the brink of collapse. In September 2023, a similar storm forced the suspension of the R1 and R2 for days and exposed the fragility of infrastructure decades old at very specific drainage points. The difference now is the simultaneity: not one line is failing, six are, along with the Metro and high-speed services.
The R3 was already suffering from a chronic cut between L'Hospitalet and La Garriga, necessitated by the duplication works that have been ongoing for years. When the network has no reserve margin, any meteorological blow can topple it entirely. And the alternatives (FGC, line buses, Metro) have finite capacity.
Adif and Renfe have committed to reviewing the critical points in the Maresme and the Vallès. In the meantime, Rodalies users in the Maresme, the Vallès, the Baix Llobregat, and the Camp de Tarragona will need to check updated schedules and allow more time for their journeys. The expectation is that some routes will begin to recover as Monday progresses.
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