Adif, Spain’s railway infrastructure manager, has completed the second phase of work on the new rail access to Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport, a project worth over 400 EUR million that will significantly improve rail connections between the airport and the Rodalies commuter rail network.
The project is considered one of the most complex and extensive investments made in recent years in Catalonia’s rail infrastructure. Following the completion of infrastructure and installation work, rolling stock testing will begin in the coming weeks. At the same time, simulations will be conducted to verify emergency response procedures and the operation of civil protection systems in the event of an emergency, prior to obtaining all necessary authorizations for the opening of commercial service.
The new infrastructure will play a strategic role in the development of public transportation in the Barcelona metropolitan area, facilitating integration between rail and air travel and providing faster and more efficient connections for millions of passengers.
Two underground stations for the airport
The new route, built in two phases, has a total length of 5.2 km, of which 4.3 km are in tunnels. The double-track line branches off from the conventional Barcelona–Vilanova main line and provides a direct connection between the airport’s two terminals, T1 and T2.
Thanks to the new connection, direct services can be introduced between the airport, downtown Barcelona, and the entire Rodalies network. The travel time between Terminal 1 and downtown will be approximately 19 minutes, and estimates indicate that between 7 and 9 million passengers will use the new infrastructure annually.
To complete the project, over 10.4 km of ballastless track and approximately 3.6 km of ballasted track were built, using over 28 km of rail and nearly 6,700 m³ of ballast. The work also included the installation of electrification, ventilation, rail safety, and telecommunications systems.
Both stations are completely underground and have direct access to the airport premises. The Terminal 1 station features a central platform with a total length of 434 meters, three elevators, and eight escalators. The Terminal 2 station has two platforms, each 200 meters long, and provides a direct connection to Metro Line 9; it is equipped with seven elevators and eight escalators.
The two rail terminals were designed to facilitate quick transfers between trains and planes, and are equipped with modern passenger information systems, access control, lighting, air conditioning, signaling, evacuation routes, and civil protection equipment.
The project receives European funding through the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, under the NextGenerationEU program.
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