The railway section of the Rodalies R3 line between Ripoll and Puigcerdà, including La Tor de Querol, has remained closed to traffic for more than a month. The interruption affects about 50 kilometers and will remain, at least, until the end of April.
Works advanced in the tunnels of Ribes de Freser and Toses
Adif has decided to take advantage of the closure to advance maintenance and repair work in the Ribes de Freser and Toses tunnels. These actions were initially planned for 2027, according to representatives of the railway operator, but they have been brought forward after the latest technical inspections.
"It is expected that they will be finished during the spring if the meteorological and technical conditions allow it" - Sources from Adif
The objective of the works is to repair the different structural pathologies detected in the technical inspections. The works include surface cleaning, concrete wall cladding, waterproofing of the infrastructure and channeling of filtrations to improve the drainage of the walls.
Situation of the line and forecast of reopening
The user platform Perquè No Ens Fotin el Tren has informed that the Department of Territory conveyed to them that the La Garriga-Ripoll section could reopen towards the second week of March. However, the rest of the line up to Puigcerdà will remain out of service during March and April due to work in the tunnels.
The Ribes de Freser tunnel has a length of 83.9 meters, while the Toses one reaches 3,940 meters. The latter, in service since 1922, was already closed between June 2020 and May 2021 for a rehabilitation that cost nearly 10 million euros. After that intervention, the speed limit of 30 km/h remains in effect.
Investments and pending problems in the Toses tunnel
In 2024, Adif tendered a new repair project for the Toses tunnel, with an estimated investment of 499,926.22 euros. In the contract, the operator acknowledges that the emergency works carried out between 2020 and 2021 did not resolve all the pathologies detected, which are now intended to be addressed.
This year's tender was declared void and Adif is studying to join this project to that of the helical tunnel of the same section, according to its Declaration on the network 2025.
The ongoing works and the prolongation of the closure maintain the uncertainty about the total recovery of the railway service in the Eastern Pyrenees.