The R8 is a line of Rodalies de Catalunya's Barcelona commuter rail service, operated by Renfe Operadora. It runs hourly between Martorell and Granollers across the Vallès Occidental region, spanning 40 kilometres (25 mi) and eight stations.[1] The R8 primarily uses the Castellbisbal–Mollet-Sant Fost railway, as well as the Sant Vicenç de Calders–Vilafranca del Penedès–Barcelona and Barcelona–Cerbère railways on its southern and northern ends, respectively.[2] It is currently the only line of the Barcelona commuter rail service entirely bypassing Barcelona.[3] The trains operating on the line are Civia electrical multiple units (EMU).[1]

R8

A Civia train on a Martorell-bound R8 service at Mollet-Sant Fost railway station, in 2013.
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Barcelona metropolitan area
First service	26 June 2011 (2011-06-26)
Current operator(s)	Renfe Operadora
Route
Termini	Martorell Granollers Centre
Stops	8
Distance travelled	40 km (25 mi)[1]
Average journey time	19 min
Service frequency	Hourly
Line(s) used	Sant Vicenç de Calders–Vilafranca del Penedès–Barcelona Castellbisbal–Mollet-Sant Fost Barcelona–Cerbère
Technical
Rolling stock	Civia EMUs
Track gauge	1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) Iberian gauge
Electrification	3,000 V DC overhead lines
Track owner(s)	Adif

v t e Line 8
Legend
to Villafranca del Penedès & Sant Vicenç de Calders Martorell Castellbisbal to El Papiol and Barcelona Rubí ← Barcelona Terrassa → Sant Cugat del Vallès Cerdanyola-Universitat ← Barcelona Terrassa & Manresa → Baricentro (never opened) Santa Perpètua-Can Folguera (under construction) ← Barcelona Vic → Mollet-Sant Fost Montmeló Granollers-Centre to Sant Celoni & Maçanet-Massanes

R8 trains started operating on 26 June 2011 (2011-06-26) after a service restructuring affecting the Barcelona commuter rail service. The R7, which had previously run between Martorell and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat stations via Vallès Occidental and Barcelona, was shortened and started operating between Cerdanyola Universitat and Barcelona Sant Andreu Arenal stations. The newly created R8 took over the former route of line R7 between Martorell and Cerdanyola Universitat stations, then continuing eastwards to Granollers Centre railway station, without entering Barcelona.[4][5]

List of stations

The following table lists the name of each station served by line R8 in order from west to east; the station's service pattern offered by R8 trains; the transfers to other Rodalies de Catalunya lines, including both commuter and regional rail services; remarkable transfers to other transport systems; the municipality in which each station is located; and the fare zone each station belongs to according to the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM Àrea de Barcelona) fare-integrated public transport system and Rodalies de Catalunya's own fare zone system for Barcelona commuter rail service lines.[6][7]

References

External links

• Rodalies de Catalunya official website
• Schedule for the R8 (PDF format)
• R8 Rodalies (rod8cat) on Twitter. Official Twitter account by Rodalies de Catalunya for the R8 with service status updates (tweets usually published only in Catalan)
• R8 (rodalia 8) on Twitter. Unofficial Twitter account by Rodalia.info monitoring real-time information about the R8 by its users.
• Information about the R8 at trenscat.cat (in Catalan)