The burial of the train in Montcada will begin in 2023

Four kilometers of underground tracks at an altitude of 35 meters, below the Ripoll river bed and winding the Besòs and the C-33 motorway, and a new design railway station next to a wide promenade, in the center of Montcada i Reixac. This is the project presented by the Ministry of Transport and Adif and that, with an investment of 465 million, will involve the claimed burial of the R2 line and a better connection with the R4 to the airport. The works will begin next year and are expected to last 72 months.

Minister Raquel Sánchez and the president of Adif, María Luisa Domínguez, visited yesterday the area that will be transformed into an underground rail corridor in six years if the prices of materials and the consequences of the war in Ukraine do not give a new setback to this project, long claimed by the City of Montcada and the platform Trato Justo Soterramiento Total.

The mayor of Montcada warns that the works will be "long, difficult and traumatic"

The burial will allow the elimination of level crossings, where 176 people have died in the last century. "An open-hearted wound," which will finally be closed, stressed Mayor Laura Campos, who insisted that it will be a "very important action, which will help to unite the city." He also reiterated that they will be "long, difficult and traumatic works." The works will begin in the neighborhood of Can Sant Joan, near Barcelona. TBM will not be used, "it will work from underground where possible and in the areas where the tunnel is more superficial it will be done through screens," said Dominguez. An alternative rail route to the current one will be built, with a provisional track, to divert convoys of both goods and passengers. "This will force to reduce the number of trains that pass because there will be a single track, but the circulation will not be cut," he said.

The new gallery will have three tracks and two platforms, one more than now, so trains that do not stop at Montcada i Reixac, will be able to circulate even if there are stopped convoys. The station will be very close to the current one. It will have two accesses, one from Guadiana Street and another from the new promenade that will be built when the current roads are removed, with a large area. The building will have "large skylights on the roof that during the day will let the sunlight enter and, at night, thanks to the lighting that will be, it will be a point of light of the city," according to Domínguez.

This intervention is linked to another project, to the Vallbona variant and the Aigües
branch – with an investment of 100 million – where a crossroads will be located at different levels, to allow the R4 trains to go through the tunnel of Passeig de Gràcia and eventually at the airport, the minister said.