Airport T2 ( es, Aeropuerto T2, ca, Aeroport T2) is both a
Rodalies de Catalunya
Rodalies de Catalunya (, ; "Commuter Rail of Catalonia") is the main commuter and regional rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is administered by the Government of Catalonia and operated by the national rail operato ...
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
station and a
Barcelona Metro
The Barcelona Metro (Catalan and Spanish: ) is an extensive network of rapid transit electrified railway lines that run mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport s ...
station serving terminal complex T2 of
Barcelona–El Prat Airport. They are located adjacent to the airport's terminal T2B, in the municipality of
El Prat de Llobregat
El Prat de Llobregat (), commonly known as El Prat , is a municipality of Spain located in the ''comarca'' of Baix Llobregat in Catalonia. The Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport largely lies within the municipal limits. It is part of ...
, to the southwest of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, in
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. The Rodalies de Catalunya station is the southern terminus of the current rail link coming from
El Prat de Llobregat railway station. It is operated by
Renfe Operadora and is served by
Barcelona commuter rail service line . The metro station is on the airport branch of
Barcelona Metro line 9 (L9) and is operated by
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) is the main public transit operator in Barcelona. A combination of two formerly-separate companies, ''Ferrocarril Metropolità de Barcelona, SA.'' and ''Transports de Barcelona, SA.'', it runs most of th ...
(TMB).
Opened in 1975, the current Rodalies de Catalunya station is the only commuter rail station serving the airport, so that it is simply known as Airport ( es, Aeropuerto, ca, Aeroport). Besides, it is due to disappear around 2022 with the construction of a new airport rail link, which will also reach airport terminal T1. The Barcelona Metro line 9 station started operating in 2016, when the line's portion between the airport terminals and
Zona Universitària station in western Barcelona opened for passenger service as the ''L9 Sud'' ("South").
Location
Both the Rodalies de Catalunya and the Barcelona Metro stations are located right in front of airport terminal T2B, to which it is connected by an elevated
walkway
In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails.
'' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. a ...
crossing over a parking lot and a road serving terminal complex T2. The Rodalies station is located at-grade, whilst the metro station lies underground, parallel to it. Terminals T2A and T2C can be accessed on foot through terminal T2B. The Rodalies de Catalunya users heading for terminal T1, located about away from the station, need to use the airport's free shuttle bus between terminal complexes T1 and T2. The shuttle bus service runs 24 hours a day with a service pattern of 4 minutes (8:00–20:00), 7 minutes (20:00–0:00) or 20 minutes (00:00–5:00), and has stops in front of terminals T2B and T2C as well as both the arrival and departure areas of terminal T1.
History
Commuter rail link
A
single-track railway line between Barcelona–El Prat Airport and Barcelona Sants station, including the current at-grade airport station and the connecting elevated walkway to the airport terminal, was officially opened on by the then-Princes of Spain
Juan Carlos
Juan Carlos I (;,
* ca, Joan Carles I,
* gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
and
Sofía. At the time it started operating, the airport station was served half-hourly by non-stopping shuttle services to
Barcelona Sants, with a journey time of 14 minutes. This was therefore the first
airport rail link
An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while ...
in Spain and one of the earliest such airport rail links in the world.
On , with the dismantling of the former route of the
Barcelona–Mataró–Maçanet-Massanes railway through the Barcelona neighborhood of
Poblenou
El Poblenou (; ) is an extensive neighborhood of Barcelona ( Sant Martí district) that borders the Mediterranean Sea to the south, Sant Adrià del Besòs to the east, Parc de la Ciutadella in Ciutat Vella to the west, and Sant Andreu to the no ...
, the airport station began to serve as the southern terminus of all
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
services running from
Mataró
Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and ...
. All those trains used the
Meridiana Tunnel in central Barcelona, calling at Sants and
Plaça de Catalunya stations, with an initial service frequency of 30 minutes in each direction.
Due to the construction works of the
Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line
The Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line is a standard gauge railway line inaugurated on 20 February 2008. Designed for speeds of and compatibility with neighbouring countries' rail systems, it connects the cities of Madrid and Barcelona i ...
in Barcelona's southern accesses, the services between Mataró and the airport station were suspended on 4 December 2005 and replaced with shuttle trains between the airport and
El Prat de Llobregat railway station. On , a new
Rodalies Barcelona line numbered
10 (or ''R10'', with the current
Rodalies de Catalunya
Rodalies de Catalunya (, ; "Commuter Rail of Catalonia") is the main commuter and regional rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is administered by the Government of Catalonia and operated by the national rail operato ...
designation) dedicated to serving the airport started operating. With a service frequency of 30 minutes in each direction, the new line ran between the airport station and Barcelona's
Estació de França, using the
Aragó Tunnel in central Barcelona, calling at Sants and
Passeig de Gràcia stations.
Due to construction works near
Sant Andreu Comtal railway station
Sant Andreu (also known as Barcelona-Sant Andreu; previously Sant Andreu Comtal) is a Rodalies de Catalunya station in the Sant Andreu district of Barcelona. It is served by Barcelona commuter rail service lines and , as well as regional line . ...
in Barcelona, a "temporary" restructuring affecting lines R2 and R10 was implemented on : the R10 was suspended and the R2 was divided into three different lines—R2, R2 ''Nord'' ("North") and R2 ''Sud'' ("South")—. Thus, line R2 Nord started operating at the airport station, originating the current line scheme. The R10 was initially scheduled to resume services two years later.
Barcelona Metro
A
tunneling machine began excavating the tunnel of Barcelona Metro line 9 from to stations in March 2008, reaching the latter in April 2009. At that moment, the airport branch of Barcelona Metro line 9 was expected to open for passenger service in 2012. In March 2012, the
Government of Catalonia
The Executive Council of Catalonia ( ca, Consell Executiu) or the Executive Government of Catalonia (Catalan: ) is the executive branch of the Generalitat of Catalonia. It is responsible for the political action, regulation, and administratio ...
announced the opening date of the line's section between Airport T1 and stations was to be delayed until 2014, after passing a modification on the funding of several sections of the L9 in order to prioritize the arrival of the metro line at the airport. In June 2014, the government announced that the Airport T1–Zona Universitària section, excepting , and stations, would open in the first six months of 2016. The first day of passenger service was 12 February 2016.
Rail services
The Rodalies de Catalunya station is served half-hourly by
Barcelona commuter rail service line . Typical weekday services usually run between the airport and
Maçanet-Massanes or
Sant Celoni
Sant Celoni () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Tordera river between the ranges of Montseny and Montnegre. The main part of the town is on the left bank of the ...
stations, via Barcelona. However, there also exist some services between the airport and
Granollers Centre railway station, specially during the weekend. All trains call at
Barcelona Sants—the city's main station—and
Barcelona Passeig de Gràcia—the line's station serving central Barcelona—, with an average journey time of 19 and 26 minutes, respectively.
Barcelona Metro line 9 services, designated ''L9 Sud'' ("L9 South"), run
driverless at a basic frequency of 7 minutes in each direction between and in western Barcelona. Additional partial services may be added if necessary, reducing the frequency to 4 minutes.
Fares
Airport T2 station belongs to different fare zones depending on the entity issuing the tickets. On the one hand,
Rodalies de Catalunya
Rodalies de Catalunya (, ; "Commuter Rail of Catalonia") is the main commuter and regional rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is administered by the Government of Catalonia and operated by the national rail operato ...
has its own fare zone system and considers the station to be in fare zone 4 of its
Barcelona commuter rail service,
so that a single ticket to Barcelona (or the other way around) costs €4.1. On the other hand, the
Autoritat del Transport Metropolità
The Metropolitan Transport Authority ( ca, Autoritat del Transport Metropolità, ATM) is a public consortium intended to coordinate the operation and project the expansion of the public transport system in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is m ...
(ATM)—a public agency in charge of coordinating public transport operators in the Barcelona area—considers it to be in fare zone 1, in the same way as the transport stations located in the city of Barcelona and its adjacent municipalities.
Thus, the price of a journey between Barcelona and the airport varies significantly due to the fact that, in the case of Rodalies de Catalunya, four fare zones are crossed, though, in the case of the ATM, only one fare zone is crossed.
Although
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) is the main public transit operator in Barcelona. A combination of two formerly-separate companies, ''Ferrocarril Metropolità de Barcelona, SA.'' and ''Transports de Barcelona, SA.'', it runs most of th ...
(TMB), the operator of the Barcelona Metro station, uses the ATM fare zone system, the basic single ticket issued by the company is not valid at this station, and the passengers using the metro stations located at the airport terminals are required to buy a special ticket known as an airport ticket. This ticket costs €4.5 and gives access to the rest of the TMB-operated Barcelona Metro system. In contrast, all multiple-time tickets and unlimited passes issued by the ATM are valid at this station, with the exception of the ''T-10'' ten-trip ticket.
Future
Construction works for a new, ,
double-track
A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.
Overview
In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...
rail link for
Barcelona–El Prat Airport started in July 2015, with a completion date around 2022, delayed from the original 2018 completion year. The new rail link will commence at
El Prat de Llobregat railway station and will have stations at both airport terminals T1 and T2 thanks to the construction of a tunnel underneath one of the airport runways, replacing the current single-track line and the
Rodalies de Catalunya
Rodalies de Catalunya (, ; "Commuter Rail of Catalonia") is the main commuter and regional rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is administered by the Government of Catalonia and operated by the national rail operato ...
station serving the airport. The new rail link will allow an increased service frequency of 15 minutes in each direction on commuter rail services to central Barcelona. There is also a project to extend
Barcelona Metro line 2
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
(L2) southwards using the route of the L9 between and
Airport T1 stations.
References
External links
Aeroport listing at the
Rodalies de Catalunya
Rodalies de Catalunya (, ; "Commuter Rail of Catalonia") is the main commuter and regional rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is administered by the Government of Catalonia and operated by the national rail operato ...
website
Aeroport T2listing at the
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) is the main public transit operator in Barcelona. A combination of two formerly-separate companies, ''Ferrocarril Metropolità de Barcelona, SA.'' and ''Transports de Barcelona, SA.'', it runs most of th ...
(TMB) website
* Information and photos of th
Rodalies de Catalunyaan
stations at trenscat.cat
Video on train operations at the Rodalies de Catalunya stationon
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
{{Barcelona Metro line 9
Airport railway stations in Spain
Barcelona Metro line 9 stations
Barcelona Metro stations located underground
Railway stations in El Prat de Llobregat
Railway stations opened in 1975
Railway stations opened in 2016
Rodalies de Catalunya stations