The commuter rail systems of Spain's major metropolitan areas are called Cercanías (Spanish: [θeɾkaˈni.as]) in most of Spain, Rodalia (Valencian: [roðaˈli.a]) in the Valencian Community, Aldiriak (Basque: [aldiɾiak]) in the Basque Country and Rodalies (Catalan: [ruðəˈli.əs]) in Catalonia. There are twelve Cercanías systems in and around the cities and regions of Asturias, Bilbao, Cádiz, Catalonia, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia/Alicante, Santander, San Sebastián, Seville, Valencia and Zaragoza. They are linked to Metro systems in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia.

Cercanías

Overview
OwnerRenfe Operadora & Regional Rail Operators (FGC)
Transit typeCommuter rail
Operation
Began operation1989 (creation of Renfe Cercanías division)

The Cercanías division of Renfe was created in 1989 on the advice of engineer and transit planner Javier Bustinduy (es; 1949–2016), as part of a major effort to massively increase ridership, frequencies and hence attractiveness of commuter rail systems in Spain. Cercanías systems are gradually in the process of being transferred to the regional autonomous governments; the first such system to be transferred was the management of the former Cercanías Barcelona/Rodalia Barcelona to the Government of Catalonia and renaming to "Rodalies de Catalunya" in 2010. The Madrid Cercanías network was the target of the 2004 Madrid train bombings. The attacks, which killed 191 people in Santa Eugenia, El Pozo and Atocha stations, were the bloodiest terrorist actions in Spain to date.

List of Cercanías / Rodalies / Rodalia / Aldiriak systems

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Map of Spain with all of the current Cercanías systems. The Rodalies de Catalunya system is also shown.
System Name Major Cities Served Annual patronage (2017)[1] Lines Stations Length (km)
Cercanías Madrid Madrid 227,800,000 10 90 370
Rodalies de Catalunya Barcelona, Girona, Camp de Tarragona 117,000,000 19 228 615
Cercanías Valencia Valencia 15,860,000 6 66 252
Cercanías Málaga Málaga 11,338,341[2] 2 26 70
Cercanías Bilbao Bilbao 10,180,000 3 44 67
Cercanías Sevilla Seville 7,480,000 5 37 251
Cercanías San Sebastián San Sebastián 6,150,000 1 30 80.5
Cercanías Asturias Gijón, Oviedo, Avilés 5,140,000 3 - -
Cercanías Murcia/Alicante Murcia, Alicante 3,730,000 3 26 202
Cercanías Cádiz Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera 2,800,000 2 13 61
Cercanías Santander Santander 670,000 1 27 92
Cercanías Zaragoza Zaragoza 290,000 1 6 16.6

Rolling stock

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The Cercanías services use the following rolling stock. In 2021, Renfe announced the purchase of 59 Stadler KISS trainsets to complement the fleet.[3]

Series Area Image
442 Madrid (C-9)  
446 Bilbao
Madrid
Santander
Sevilla
 
447 Madrid
Valencia
Barcelona
Girona
Tarragona
San Sebastián
 
450/451 Madrid
Barcelona
 
592 Murcia/Alicante
Valencia
Sevilla
 
Civia Asturias
Cádiz
Madrid
Barcelona
Girona
Málaga
Sevilla
Valencia
Zaragoza
Santander
 

References

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  1. ^ "Los trenes de cercanías van casi vacíos y apenas superan la cifra de usuarios de hace diez años". 11 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  2. ^ Málaga, La Opinión de (3 March 2018). "Los Cercanías de Málaga alcanzan los 11,3 millones de usuarios". Laopiniondemalaga.es. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Renfe y Stadler firman la compra de 59 trenes para Cercanías". Economia3 (in Spanish). 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
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