How to get about on public transport during the Christmas festivities?
Coinciding with the restrictions and changes announced by Procicat, the Barcelona area’s public transport network will be adapting their respective services in some cases to make it easier for users to return home. That way the railway operators’ usual timetables will be maintained, from 5 am to midnight, but there will be exceptions on the nights of 24 and 31 December and 5 January.
The city’s public transport will be operating as usual and maintaining 100% of its service during rush hours, form 6 am to 9 am.
At the same time, to facilitate festivities-related travel, the metro network will be maintaining a service, from 22 December to 8 January, close to the one provided during winter work days, with extra 10% and 13% capacities during the early morning and afternoons respectively, compared to the equivalent days in last year’s Christmas period. The extra services will be general on conventional lines and even higher on those most in demand: L1 and L5 lines.
Given the current health situation, as framed by the restrictions in force on social and leisure activities and on night-time mobility (from 10 pm to 6 am), the railway operators’ usual timetables will remain in place, from 5 am to midnight.
There will, of course, be exceptions to these restrictions on the nights of 24 and 31 December and 5 January.
On the other hand, the night-time bus service for the AMB, the Nitbus, and the Catalan government’s night-time inter-city buses, will continue to operate throughout the night during the festivities, following timetables that can be consulted from their respective websites.
Remember that taxis can take up to a maximum of 5 passengers and one driver (depending on the vehicle’s capacity) and that the seat next to the driver must be left free.
Special timetables for the festivities
Coinciding with the restrictions and changes announced by Procicat, the Barcelona area’s public transport network will be adapting their respective services in some cases to make it easier for users to return home.
Christmas Eve
The night of 24 to 25 December will see all railway operators ending their services at 11 pm: metro TMB, FGC [Catalan government railway service], Rodalies Renfe [commuter railway service] and Tram. This is the usual timetable for every year (except for Trams) and is therefore not affected by the current situation.
On Friday, 25 December, Christmas day, and on Saturday, 26 December, Boxing Day, the metro will be operating from 5 am to 12 midnight.
As for the TMB’s urban buses, they will be making their last departures from their stops of origin at 10 pm on Thursday, 24 December, Christmas eve, as they do every year.
New Year’s Eve
Most transport services will finish on the night of 31 December and 1 January, to mark the start of the night-time lockdown at 1 am. Still, the Rodalies de Catalunya local commuter train services will continue its usual operating times on work days and will not be affected by these timetable changes.
Twelfth Night
The night of 5 to 6 January is another night whose lockdown timetable has been changed according to the latest announcements from Procicat. That night the lockdown will not start until 11 pm, so that for all those wishing to return home, the city’s public transport will be maintaining its services until midnight (12 am).
The Barcelona Christmas Tour will not be in service on 24, 25 or 31 December or on 1 January.
