Ripoll will have, next to the train station, a convoy maintenance workshop while the R-3 widening works last, the line that connects l'Hospitalet de Llobregat with Puigcerdà and the Tor de Querol, already in French territory , passing through the Osona region.
The infrastructure will have an electrified access road connected to the current railway line and equipment to accommodate trains 80 meters long. It will also have storage and vehicle washing areas.
The idea is that in this space maintenance tasks of the Renfe Cercanías trains are carried out during the works scheduled in the short term for the improvement of the R-3, such as those of the section between Parets del Vallès and La Garriga, about 17 kilometers which will have one track for each direction of travel.
The works, which began at the beginning of March with the excavation and foundation of the area where the workshop building will be located, which will occupy 90 meters, will be carried out over the next few months and will not affect rail traffic.
In parallel with the works already started, Mitma is drafting a second construction project for the electrification and equipping of the workshop.
The action involves an investment of 3.8 million euros and according to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) "is compatible" with a new larger workshop and new siding routes to which Renfe has committed together with Ripoll station.
This was precisely a demand from the territory, especially from the municipalities of the northern section served by this line. The technical office of the R3, created in 2020 and made up of entities, companies and representatives of the administration in favor of the doubling, places this workshop among the "essential" actions to be carried out in the 2026-2030 five-year period of the Rodalies Plan.
It also calls for the creation of a new station in Torelló, near the C-37 highway, which would save travelers from La Garrotxa travel time, as well as the reopening of diverted roads in Toses and Campdevànol to expand the capacity of the infrastructure. There is also an urgent need to rehabilitate the connection between Puigcerdà and La Tor de Querol-Enveig, with a European gauge track that would allow the services operated by the French company SNFC to have their southern headwaters in Puigcerdà.
