Mataró Bus Lines Hit 300 Meters as Rodalies Riders Switch

Commuters in the Maresme say the region’s buses to Barcelona can no longer cope with passengers who have abandoned Rodalies (Catalonia’s commuter rail network) this year. In Mataró, riders describe lines of 300 meters at plaça de les Tereses early in the morning for the express buses e11.1 and e11.2, according to the riders who use them.

The Generalitat (Catalan government) has added some extra buses and plans more on several Alt Maresme routes from Nov. 30, but it says meeting all the riders’ demands would take at least 700 more buses and more than a thousand extra drivers across Catalonia.

How the Rodalies crisis reached the bus stops

Trust in the trains has fallen since the Gelida accident at the start of 2026 and the rail crisis that followed. A recent survey found that almost half of regular Rodalies users had thought about taking the train less often over the past year. The R1 line along the coast is among the worst hit, since it suffers whenever it rains because it runs so close to the sea.

Many people who used to take the train now ride buses to work or study in Barcelona, and that system was already near its limit. “We are the ones harmed by the harmed,” said Montse Raya, a spokesperson for Moviment Ciutadà 11.1 i 11.2, a new platform of Mataró-Barcelona bus users. She said some residents of Canet and Arenys now drive to Mataró to catch a direct bus. Moventis runs both express lines, but the decision to add service belongs to the Secretaria de Mobilitat, the Catalan transport department.

Full buses in the Baix Maresme towns

The problem extends beyond Mataró. Cabrils, Premià de Dalt and Vilassar de Dalt have no Rodalies station, and only Premià de Mar does. Riders in those towns formed the platform Millorem Bus Baix Maresme a year ago. Pedro Hernández, a member who uses line 804 (Vilassar de Dalt-Premià de Mar-Barcelona), said demand has grown far faster than supply. On some days, he said, the bus fills at the first Premià de Mar stop and leaves people waiting at the next ones. Passengers have started walking to that first stop, where 200 or 300 people can gather at rush hour.

What the platforms want

Both groups, together with Moviment 807 (users from Argentona and Cabrera de Mar), met parliamentary groups last Thursday. They asked for:

• more frequent service on buses 803, 804, 805, 806, 807 and C30, and on the exprés.cat lines e11.1 and e11.2;
• higher-capacity articulated buses;
• permanent tracking of how full buses are, with real-time information for riders;
• strict safety standards, including mandatory seat belts and a ban on standing passengers.

Raya said the reinforcements so far lack coordination: small vehicles are sent at peak hours and empty buses are seen later. The safety demand gained weight after the Montseny bus accident. Current rules allow standing on some interurban motorway routes, but Millorem Bus Baix Maresme said holding a metal bar at 80 km/h is very dangerous.

What it means for Maresme commuters

Relief is coming in pieces. Territory minister Sílvia Paneque confirmed on Thursday that frequencies will rise from Nov. 30 on links between Pineda de Mar, Calella and Sant Pol de Mar; between Malgrat de Mar and the Hospital Germans Tries i Pujol in Badalona; and between Tordera, Blanes and Barcelona. She said timetables and the number of trips are still to be set. Riders on the R1 corridor who rely on trains can find lines and refund rules in our guide to Rodalies trains.

The wider fix faces a hard limit. Adding 700 buses to the current interurban fleet and finding the drivers to run them is out of reach in the short term, according to the Generalitat’s own figures.

What happens next

Parliamentary groups have promised to call mobility secretary Manel Nadal to explain how the government will ease crowding on Maresme buses and how it will spend the money in the emergency plan announced in April. The platforms plan to meet the parties again after the Christmas holidays to check whether those promises turn into action, and they want to join forces with other interurban transport groups across Catalonia.

Source: go.eln.cat