Barcelona airport rail link enters testing phase

Testing has begun on the new R-Aeroport rail connection to Barcelona El Prat Airport, according to Diari de Girona, after infrastructure manager Adif completed the rail access to terminals T1 and T2. The service is planned to start carrying passengers in the first half of 2027.

For airport passengers, the change would provide a direct rail link to T1, which accounts for 65% of airport traffic. Current Rodalies commuter trains terminate at T2, requiring passengers travelling between terminals to use a shuttle bus.

Adif’s project cost more than €400 million and includes a 5.2km route connecting the airport with the Rodalies network. Of that distance, 4.3km is underground.

Safety checks and train tests still required

Adif has handed over the infrastructure, which includes tracks, electrification, signalling, communications, ventilation and safety systems linking the branch line to the Barcelona–Vilanova railway line, Diari de Girona reported.

The installation must first be checked using a Class 252 locomotive. Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC), the Generalitat-owned rail operator due to run the service, must then test its own trains on the route before the Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Ferroviaria, Spain’s State Railway Safety Agency, can authorise operation.

Adif has completed 26 journeys between El Prat station and the airport station, according to the newspaper.

Planned 15-minute service from Sant Andreu

FGC plans to run a train every 15 minutes between Sant Andreu and the airport over a 22.7km route. The service is scheduled to call at:

Sagrera
Clot
Passeig de Gràcia
Sants
Bellvitge
El Prat
Aeroport T2
Aeroport T1

The journey from Passeig de Gràcia to T1 is expected to take about 19 to 20 minutes. The route would add four trains in each direction every hour through the Passeig de Gràcia tunnel, which already carries the R2 Nord, R2 Sud and regional services.

Once the new line opens, the R2 Nord would no longer run directly to the airport, with FGC taking over the full airport rail connection.

Ten new trains and 42 driver posts

FGC has ordered 10 electric trains from Alstom for the R-Aeroport service, investing €107 million, plus about €70 million for 15 years of maintenance. The first unit was completed and presented in October 2025 before factory testing began.

Each train will carry up to 656 passengers, including 202 seated passengers, and will have 10 doors on each side. On-board screens will provide rail-service and flight information.

On 30 June, FGC advertised 42 driver posts specifically for the R-Aeroport. The operator expects to add about 70 drivers in 2027, including 42 for the airport service and 20 for a future Lleida–Terrassa route.

Passengers should continue to use the existing Rodalies airport service to T2 and the terminal shuttle bus until the R-Aeroport service receives safety authorisation and enters operation.

Reported by Diari de Girona.