Trains and other things: Tarragona, Girona

Today I'm visiting two large towns in Catalonia, which can be reached by trains - Tarragona and Girona.

I'm using Interrail here in Spain, though it's not as easy as in the other European countries. Most stations have ticket gates which are not possible to open with Interrail ticket, and the staff do not always know what Interrail is. The other problem is the expensive seat reservation for long distance trains. Here is Renfe Class 449, Media Distancia in Catalonia, which do not require seat reservation.

At station Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, I'm changing to Class 448 Regional Exprés to Cambrils

Inside the coach of Class 448

Next is the Class 450 - which is a double deck EMU

The line to Tarragona is located next to the coast of the Mediterranean sea

Sitges

I make a short stop at the Villanueva y Geltrú station. The station opened in 1881

Next to the station is the museum of the railways of Catalonia, which opened in 1990

The museum has a large collection of historic railway locomotives and other rolling stock in a former station and roundhouse.

Steam locomotive 040-2019

Talgo

Another Class 450 will take me to San Vicente de Calders

Thanks to the broad Iberian gauge the seat composition is 3+2 in this train.

At Sant Vicenç de Calders I'm changing trains for further ride to Tarragona

Talgo train to Alicante do not stop here in Sant Vicenç de Calders

Renfe Class 252 locomotive

My next train is Class 446 EMU which is used here for Regional Exprés service to Tortosa

Meanwhile on the other side of the platform I spot this Class 335 - Vossloh Euro 3000

The locomotive is used here by Transitia Rail - a private Basque operator

No empty seats between Sant Vicenç de Calders and Tarragona

Class 446 at Tarragona

Class 448

Tarragona is located along the 299km long Valencia - San Vicente Calders Line railway line which opened in 1868

Station in Tarragona is located next to the sea

Balcó del Mediterrani

Monument a Roger de Llúria

Rambla Nova

Tarragona als herois de 1811 - a monument dedicated to the Siege of Tarragona during the war with Napoleon

Via de l'Imperi Romà

The Roman ruins of Tarraco have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Catedral de Tarragona

Plaça de Santiago Rossinyol

Torre del Pretori

Euromed train from Alicante to Barcelona

Renfe Class 130 is a Talgo 250 high speed dual gauge and dual voltage train

From Tarragona, I had an option to take this train back to Barcelona. Unfortunately, with Interrail that would cost me 23.5EUR for a seat reservation in 1st class, which is more expensive than if I would buy a single ticket for same train/class.

So, I took the Regional Exprés train, which do not require a seat reservation. The ticket for this train to Barcelona costs 8,05EUR.

Renfe Class 470 is a EMU from 1975, rebuilt in 1993

The bad thing with trains without seat reservations is that there are sometimes no available seats

Around 1h trip, and I'm in Barcelona

I'm having typical Spanish lunch at Barcelona Sants station before my next train.

My next destination is Girona. Here I also have the option to take a Regional train (included in Interrail), or to pay a seat reservation and take a high speed train. Since travel time is much faster, 38min compared to 1h20min and the fact that a seat reservation cost only 4EUR, I choose the faster option. Both seat reservations for Renfe SNCF train from France to Spain and Renfe domestic trains can only be purchased at the station and not through Renfe or SNCF websites.