Barcelona Sants is the main railway station in Barcelona, owned by Adif, the railway infrastructure agency of

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 ...

. It has become the most important transport hub of the city - being the centre of

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 operat ...

including Barcelona suburban railway services and regional services, as well as the main inter-city station for national and international destinations. The station is named after

Sants Sants is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Barcelona. It belongs to the district of Sants-Montjuïc and is bordered by the districts of Eixample to the northeast, Les Corts to the northwest, and by the municipality of l'Hospitalet de Llob ...

, the neighbourhood of Barcelona in which it is located. New parts of the station have recently been remodeled to accommodate the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

high-speed train High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

AVE ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE ...

in the city, which started serving the city on 20 February 2008. There is also an adjacent international

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

station bearing the same name, and a link to the

Sants Estació metro station Sants is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Barcelona. It belongs to the district of Sants-Montjuïc and is bordered by the districts of Eixample to the northeast, Les Corts to the northwest, and by the municipality of l'Hospitalet de Llobr ...

that serves the railway station.

History and architectural design

The modern Sants station was built in the 1970s as part of construction of the second east–west regional line running under the centre of Barcelona. The first east–west railway to Estació de França terminus, more to the north, was covered up and is now also in use as a railtunnel for the regional and long-distance trains. Over the last 30 years, Estació de Sants has since eclipsed the earlier França terminus (

Barcelona Estació de França 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 c ...

), from the 1920s, as Barcelona's main railway station. The station was built in a modern airport style, with all of its many platforms sited underground. A hotel (Hotel Barceló Sants) occupies most of the upper floors of the station's main building.

Location

The station is in the

Sants-Montjuïc Sants-Montjuïc () is one of the ten districts into which Barcelona has been split since 1984, numbered District 3. Comprising very different areas of the city, it covers the southern part of Barcelona, joining the two former districts ''II'' (ma ...

district of Barcelona, a little way to the west of the city centre, and is easily accessible via

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

(see section below) or bus from anywhere in the city. Sited at the end of Avinguda Roma between two squares, Plaça dels Països Catalans and Plaça Joan Peiró, it has two entrances, one in each.

Services

Long distance

Madrid is two and a half hours away on 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 in ...

, after the link between

Camp de Tarragona Camp de Tarragona () is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain. It includes a central plain, surrounded by the Serralada Prelitoral mountain chain on the west and in the north, with the Mediterranean sand beaches of the Costa Daura ...

and Barcelona opened in 2008. Extension of the high-speed network east into France connecting with the

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

network was completed in January 2013 upon completion of the

Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line The Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed line is an international high-speed rail line between France and Spain. The line consists of a railway, of which 24.6 km are in France and 150.8 km are in Spain. It crosses the French–Spanish bord ...

and a direct TGV service started in December 2013.Communiqué de presse Paris - Barcelone
/ref> The high speed service uses platforms 1 to 6, which have now been converted to the European standard gauge for use by the AVE services, unlike the remaining 8 for other RENFE services using the wider Spanish gauge tracks. A second major railway station in Barcelona, Estació de la Sagrera, currently under construction, is expected to join it in order to provide a wider access to high-speed and long-distance trains to the north of the city.

Regional and commuter rail

Barcelona Metro

References

External links

Barcelona Sants
listing at Adif website
Barcelona Sants
listing at

website
Information and photos of the station
at Trenscat.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Barcelona Sants Railway Station Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line Railway stations in Barcelona Railway stations opened in 1975 Rodalies de Catalunya stations Transport in Sants-Montjuïc Railway stations located underground in Spain Transit centers in Spain