Rodalies Delays Top 30 Minutes on R1, R2 and R4 Lines on Saturday
An unexplained operational problem delayed Rodalies trains on R1, R2, R2 Nord, R2 Sud, R4 and southern regional lines on Saturday morning. Here is what was hit.
Commuter trains across much of the Barcelona area ran late on Saturday, Nov. 7, after what Rodalies de Catalunya (the regional commuter rail service) called an “operational incident.” Trains on the R1, R2, R2 Nord, R2 Sud and R4 lines, plus the southern regional services, were running off schedule, with delays that could exceed 30 minutes.
The delays began shortly after 8 a.m., according to the local broadcaster betevé. Rodalies did not say what caused the problem.
Which Rodalies lines were affected
Rodalies announced the disruption on the social network X. The lines it named carry many of the region’s daily commuters and airport travelers:
- R1, from Molins de Rei to Maçanet-Massanes, running through Mataró along the coast.
- R2, between Castelldefels and Granollers Centre.
- R2 Nord, which links the airport with Maçanet-Massanes by way of Granollers Centre.
- R2 Sud, from Sant Vicenç de Calders to Estació de França in Barcelona.
- R4, from Sant Vicenç de Calders to Manresa through Vilafranca del Penedès.
The regional trains serving the south of Catalonia were also delayed. The R3 and R7 were not on the list of affected lines.
A person on the tracks halted the R4
A second, separate problem hit the R4. Service was suspended for about 20 minutes between Sant Vicenç de Calders and El Vendrell, in the Baix Penedès area, because someone was on the tracks, the Catalan public broadcaster 3Cat reported. Trains on that stretch were running around half an hour late afterward.
The R8, which runs between Martorell and Granollers Centre through Cerdanyola Universitat, had its own trouble. A fault in the infrastructure at Castellbisbal station, in the Vallès Occidental, left trains facing delays of more than 20 minutes from just after 8 a.m., according to 3Cat.
What this means for passengers
For anyone traveling on Saturday morning, the delays affected trips into Barcelona from the coast north of the city, the towns along the R2 corridor, and the southern lines that end at Sant Vicenç de Calders. Passengers heading to or from El Prat airport on the R2 Nord also faced late trains.
The disruption came on a weekend, when fewer people travel for work, but it added to a run of service problems on the network. 3Cat described it as another day with disruptions on Rodalies. Because Rodalies did not identify the cause of the main incident, there was no indication of how quickly normal timetables would return on the affected lines.
Rodalies asked passengers to follow its official channels and transport apps for updates and to check the state of the service before setting out. The operator posts incident notices on X, and betevé keeps a live page on the status of each Rodalies line.
Separate problems on the same morning
Three issues overlapped on Saturday. The unexplained operational incident caused most of the delays across the R1, R2 family, R4 and southern regional trains. The person on the tracks near El Vendrell briefly stopped the R4. The infrastructure fault at Castellbisbal slowed the R8. Each had a different cause, and the R4 was hit by two of them at once.
