Plaça de Catalunya is terminus station operated by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) at the heart of Barcelona, where passengers from other mainline rail stations as well as metro services, are all linked into one of the busiest transport hubs in Barcelona. Demand forecasts carried out by FGC in 2017 indicated a constant growth in the number of passengers expected over the coming years. However, due to a lack of capacity to service the increasing demand, it was decided to upgrade the signaling system and refurbishing the station to gain more capacity by servicing more trains into the station.
Buchanan’s client, FGC, was highly concerned about choosing the right design to implement out of the 4 options they had previously considered.
Buchanan recommended using Bentley´s pedestrian simulation software, LEGION for the job, as the complexity of the project required the use of the most sophisticated software available. Buchanan carried out the simulation of pedestrian flows before any decision about the arrangement for the new station was adopted. This included assessing the best designs for vestibules and operational arrangements of the different lines arriving at each of the four platforms of the station.
By using LEGION, Buchanan was able to analyze the most critical metrics, including Fruin´s Levels of Service (LoS), agglomerations, and journey times under different demand conditions and operational arrangements of the different services.
With the incorporation of the new trains in the station and the improvement of frequencies, the main line into the station (Vallés) will gain 37 percent of capacity, meaning it will go from 80 million trips a year to 110 million. Buchanan was able to demonstrate with LEGION that this was possible using the best operational and design layout.
FGC completed the work at the Plaza Catalunya station in December, 2020. The tracks have been lengthened so that trains can make an automatic entry, a maneuver necessary to improve frequencies from the arrival of fifteen new trains next year. In addition, the lobby has been expanded to maximize the flow of travelers.
Buchanan assisted with the work at the design stage and helped FGC assess the viable alternatives. Only with the help of LEGION were they able to determine the most suitable option and recommend that for implementation.
LEGION Model Builder was used to build the model of the station.
LEGION Simulator was used to run pedestrian flows for the team to evaluate scenarios for the new station.
Oriol Juncadella i Fortuny
Director of FGC Operadora
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
For more information, please write to enrique.huertas@c-buchanan.com or visit www.c-buchanan.com
Colin Buchanan Consultores (Buchanan) is a leading international consultancy in Transport Planning and Engineering. Although the firm was established in Spain in 2007, its British origins can be traced back to the groundbreaking study "Traffic in Towns” published by Sir Colin Buchanan in the UK (1963), which recommendations regarding sustainable urban mobility remain as relevant today as they were at the time of publication.
As both a Bentley Channel Partner and Training Product Partner, Buchanan has been providing expert advice and training to organizations on Bentley´s pedestrian simulation software LEGION, on a variety of projects around the world, including: