High-speed train between Catalonia and Marseille back on 8 April

The high-speed train link between Catalonia and Marseille will return from 8 April with four stops in Catalonia: Camp de Tarragona, Barcelona-Sants, Girona and Figueres Vilafant. The train line will be operated by Renfe. Barcelona already has direct high-speed rail links to Paris and Lyon, with stops in other Catalan and French cities. The future of rail connections between Catalonia and France was in the spotlight in February after French rail operator SNCF decided to unilaterally break its international cooperation deal with its Spanish counterpart Renfe.

Catalonia is also set to have a high-speed link to Switzerland by 2024, with a route between Barcelona and Zürich forming part of a network of overnight trains connecting 13 different European cities, including Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Rome and Amsterdam. The project is led by the railway companies of France (SNCF), Germany (DB), Austria (ÖBB) and Switzerland (CFF). The newly created routes will be known as the Nightjet, the name of the overnight services of Austrian railway company ÖBB that already runs trains in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

Campaigners have called on train operators in Catalonia to bring back night services that have disappeared over the past decade due to “laziness.” They insist that with existing infrastructure and investment in material, it would be possible to travel to Paris, Milan, Zürich or Frankfurt in 10 hours from Barcelona, leaving in the evening and arriving in the morning. In addition to international destinations, they argue that connections with Galicia, the Basque Country and Andalusia should be restored, as well as the rebuilding of a route between Barcelona and Lisbon.