Aeroport (Rodalies de Catalunya)

Aeroport
Rodalies de Catalunya commuter rail station

A Renfe Operadora Civia train arriving at the station in 2014.
Location Carrer de Salvador Hedilla
08820 El Prat de Llobregat
Spain
Coordinates 41°18′15.32″N 2°4′23.9″E / 41.3042556°N 2.073306°ECoordinates: 41°18′15.32″N 2°4′23.9″E / 41.3042556°N 2.073306°E
Owned by Adif
Operated by Renfe Operadora
Line(s) Aeroport–El Prat de Llobregat (PK 0)[1]
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections
Construction
Structure type At-grade
Parking Several airport parking garages serving Barcelona–El Prat Airport's terminal T2 are located nearby.
Other information
Station code 72400[1]
Fare zone
History
Opened 15 July 1975
Services
Preceding station   Rodalies de Catalunya   Following station
TerminusR2 Nord
El Prat de Llobregat
toward Maçanet-Massanes (via Granollers Centre)
  Suspended service  
TerminusR10
El Prat de Llobregat
toward Barcelona Estació de França
Preceding station   Metro   Following station
  Starting in February 2016  
Aeroport T1
Terminus
L9
Mas Blau
toward Zona Universitària

Aeroport (Catalan for "airport") is a Rodalies de Catalunya railway station serving Barcelona–El Prat Airport, in Catalonia, Spain. It is located adjacent to the airport's terminal T2B, in the municipality of El Prat de Llobregat. Currently, the station is served by Barcelona commuter rail service line R2 Nord.

Opened on 15 July 1975, the current station and its connecting branch line are due to disappear around 2018 with the construction of a new airport rail link, which will reach the 1.8-kilometre-away (1.1 mi) terminal T1. Furthermore, Barcelona Metro line 9 is scheduled to start services at the station in February 2016.

Location

The station is located right in front of airport terminal T2B, to which it is connected by an elevated walkway crossing over a parking lot and a road serving terminal complex T2. Terminals T2A and T2C can be accessed on foot through terminal T2B. Passengers heading for terminal T1, located about 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) away from the station,[4] 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.[5]

History

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 15 July 1975 by the then-Princes of Spain Juan Carlos 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.[6]

On 28 May 1989, with the dismantling of the former route of the Barcelona–Mataró–Maçanet-Massanes railway through the Barcelona neighborhood of Poblenou, the airport station began to serve as the southern terminus of all commuter rail services running from Mataró. All those trains used Meridiana Tunnel in central Barcelona, calling at Sants and Plaça de Catalunya stations, with an initial service frequency of 30 minutes in each direction.[7][8]

In 2005, after the dismantling of the single-track airport line between El Prat de Llobregat and Barcelona Sants stations, the services between Mataró and the airport station were suspended. On 22 July 2006, a new Rodalies Barcelona line numbered 10 (or R10, with the current Rodalies de Catalunya numbering) 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 Aragó Tunnel in central Barcelona, calling at Sants and Passeig de Gràcia stations.[9]

Rail services

Currently, the station is served half-hourly by Barcelona commuter rail service line R2 Nord. Typical weekday services usually run between the airport and Maçanet-Massanes or Sant Celoni 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.[10]

Before 31 January 2009, the airport station was served by line R10 of the Barcelona commuter rail service, which directly linked it with Barcelona's Estació de França. Due to construction works near Barcelona Sant Andreu Comtal railway station, a "temporary" restructuring affecting lines R2 and R10 was implemented: 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. Although line R10 was scheduled to resume services two years later according to official sources,[11] as of 2014, it has not been reopened yet and no date has been announced so far.

Fares

A single train ticket from the airport station to Barcelona (or the other way around) costs €4.1. Nevertheless, since the fare zone in which the station is situated depends on the entity issuing the tickets, the price of a multiple-time ticket or an unlimited pass varies significantly between one entity and another.

On the one hand, Rodalies de Catalunya has its own fare zone system and considers the airport station to be in fare zone 4 of its Barcelona commuter rail service.[3] On the other hand, the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (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.[2] 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.

Future

Main articles: Barcelona–El Prat Airport rail link § Future and Barcelona Metro line 9

Construction works for a new, 4.5-kilometre-long (2.8 mi), double-track rail link for Barcelona–El Prat Airport are due to start in April 2015, with a completion date around August 2018.[12] 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 2.8-kilometre-long (1.7 mi) tunnel underneath one of the airport runways,[13] replacing the current single-track line and the Rodalies de Catalunya 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.[14]

After several years of delays, Barcelona Metro line 9 is due to start services at the airport station in February 2016, when the line's 20-kilometre-long (12 mi), 15-station portion between the airport terminals and Zona Universitària station in western Barcelona opens for passenger service. With an initial service frequency of 7 minutes in each direction, the new rapid transit line will directly link the airport to the municipalities of El Prat de Llobregat and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, including Fira de Barcelona's major trade fair venue in Granvia l'Hospitalet, as well as the westernmost tip of Barcelona.[15] The Catalan government stated that an "undetermined" fee is to be charged on journeys between the airport terminals and other stations of the Barcelona Metro system.[16]

Photo gallery

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Listado de líneas y estaciones" [List of railway lines and stations] (PDF) (in Spanish). Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Government of Spain. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Integrated Railway Network (PDF) (Map). Autoritat del Transport Metropolità. August 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Servei de rodalia de Barcelona [Barcelona commuter rail service] (PDF) (Map) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Distance measured using Google Maps's "Distance Measurement Tool".
  5. ↑ "Connection between terminals". Barcelona-El Prat Airport. Aena. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Importantes mejoras en la red de comunicaciones de la provincia" [Important improvements on the province's transport system] (PDF). La Vanguardia Española (in Spanish) (Barcelona). 16 July 1975. p. 5. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Renfe cierra la estación de Cercanías y el tren ya llega desde Mataró hasta el centro de Barcelona" [Renfe shuts down Cercanías station and trains are already running from Mataró to central Barcelona] (PDF). La Vanguardia (in Spanish) (Sant Adrià de Besòs). 19 May 1989. p. 32. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Sierra, Lluís; V. Aroca, Jaume (27 May 1989). "Los Juegos Olímpicos cumplen su primer objetivo de ganar playas y acercar el Maresme a Barcelona" [The Olympic Games fulfill the objectives of gaining beach access and getting El Maresme closer to Barcelona] (PDF). La Vanguardia (in Spanish) (Barcelona). p. 20. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Renfe restablece conexión Barcelona-Aeropuerto" [Renfe restablishes Barcelona–Airport link] (in Spanish). EuroFerroviarios. 20 July 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Schedule of lines R2, R2 Nord and R2 Sud" (PDF). Rodalies de Catalunya. Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "La línia C-2 de Rodalies patirà els efectes de les obres de l'AVE durant dos anys" [Rodalies line C-2 to suffer the effects of the AVE construction works for two years]. 324.cat (in Catalan) (Televisió de Catalunya). 23 January 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Les obres de la llançadora de tren a la T-1 começaran a l'abril" [Construction works of the shuttle line to the T-1 to start in April] (in Catalan). Barcelona: El Periódico. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Fomento adjudica por 257 millones de euros las obras del acceso ferroviario a la nueva terminal del Prat" [The Ministry of Public Works and Transport awards the construction works of the rail access to El Prat's new terminal for €257 million] (PDF) (Press release) (in Spanish). Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Government of Spain. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Santi Vila presenta l’acord d’actuacions en infraestructures estratègiques amb el Ministeri de Foment" [Santi Vila presents the agreement on key infrastructures with the Ministry of Public Works] (PDF). Sala de premsa (Press release) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Circula el primer tren en proves pel tram de l'L9 a l'Aeroport de Barcelona" [A test train runs on the L9's Barcelona Airport section for the first time] (PDF). Sala de premsa (Press release) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  16. ↑ Solé, Albert (27 November 2014). "Arribar a l'aeroport amb la L9 tindrà un sobrecost al bitllet" [An extra fee is to be charged for getting to the airport using the L9] (in Catalan). Barcelona: Ara. Retrieved 26 April 2015.

External links

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