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Barcelona : help me understand suburban rail connections

Posted by (northern CA) on

The RS guidebook to Barcelona seems to take it as inevitable that you will have to go through Sants station and then get on L3 if you're coming or going from outside the city, but I see that (sort of like the RER in Paris) there is suburban rail between the Placa de Catalunya and Passeig de Gracia stations and both Girona to the northeast and Tarragona to the southwest.

I'm having trouble understanding the lines, schedules, and stations not only because of the language barrier but because the design of the websites is little overdone. Can anyone point me to a clear(er) explanation/listing of what lines R11 and RG1 do to get one from Girona to the old city center of Barcelona? Same for the lines to Tarragona?

This is the site that is proving confusing: http://rodalies.gencat.cat/ca/linies_estacions_i_trens/servei_regionals/

Posted by
3071 posts

If that's indeed so, then RS is wrong, plain and simple you don't have to go thru Sants and L3 if you're coming from outside the city... that'll depend where you're coming from and which train line are you arriving on.

... language barrier is a bad excuse :)))... ALL signs and explanations in the entire network are in three languages: Catalan, Spanish and English.

... it might be better if you look at the MAP of the train/metro stations in the city: http://bit.ly/BCNmetromap2016 as well to a MAP of the regional train lines in Catalonia: http://www.gencat.cat/rodalies/planol_regional.htm Sometimes a picture is clearer than lots of text.

... all high speed trains (AVE-type) stop only at Estació de Sants in Barcelona -the main hub located in the west of the city- regardless where they come from. Period.

... slower trains (regional and/or commuter type) coming/going from/to Tarragona (south of Barcelona) do stop in Estació de Sants, Estació de Passeig de Gràcia (centre) and Estació de França (near El Born area) upon arriving in Barcelona. For slow trains coming/going from/to Girona (north of Barcelona) they do stop in Estació El Clot-Aragó, Estació de Passeig de Gràcia and Estació de Sants.

... in any case, why don't you just use the train journey planner instead?: http://rodalies.gencat.cat/en insert your origin and your destination and you're set.

btw... the 'old city' as you say, it's the district of Ciutat Vella, which embraces five neighbourhoods ... maybe you ought to be a bit more precise, LOL!

Enjoy!

Posted by
11294 posts

Girona is served by both fast trains (only from Sants) and regional trains (from various stations in Barcelona). I booked a fast train both ways, but regretted it, because I ended up wanting to spend more time there (fast train tickets are only good for that specific train). So, what I wish I had done was book the fast train to Girona in the morning, and just taken the regional train back (since these are unreserved, and I could have come back as early or as late as I wanted).

BTW, Rick does say (somewhere in the book, don't have it in front of me) that you should check if your train is going to a more central station before assuming you have to go out to Sants station to catch it.

I found the Rodalies app very helpful for schedules, although (at least in September 2015 for Android) I could only get it in Catalan.

Posted by
3071 posts

For info... you don't absolutely need to pre-book/book fast trains to Girona or Figueres -most of the time that is, the early morning one can be a bit tricky sometimes, but the rest you can just buy on the spot. This is so too on your way back, thus it won't happen like to Harold and you'll be able to choose your time back to Barcelona at your convenience.

Posted by
2766 posts

Te agradezco, ambos!
This is just what I had in mind -- being able to gauge my mood and the morning's promise and then decide when to get on the train back to Barcelona.
It looks like the regional runs every 45 minutes or so and takes about 75 minutes to get back. 8 euros and change.
My mistake was that the dates I was putting in to the trip planner were too far away, so it was giving me a 'not available' message,
so I just try putting in the same day of the week closer to now.

Here is a neighborhood specific question, then, Enric -- if I want to go directly to the Palau de Musica Catalan, should I get off at the Passeig de Gracia or El Clot Arago or someplace else? Which?

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