From the French border to Catalunya onboard a Spanish regional carrier
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- Опубліковано 16 кві 2020
- Hola a todos, welcome to this trip report bound to Girona in Catalunya 🇪🇸.
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- TRIP INFORMATION -
Railway company: Rodalies de Catalunya/RENFE
Train type : S-447
Registration : R11
From : Portbou to Girona
Time : 1h03
Price : 10€
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The trains were refurbished in 2015, they were originally built in the 90's.
The seats are also different
These are better than the original seats.
Yes, but the first to refurbished were in the year 2013
They are built in 1993
The S-447 was reconditioned by Alstom in 2015 with a central PMR car (it is for people with reduced mobility) but the last train that was built was in 1997. Sorry for my english jajaja
Thank you Daniel :)
You English is perfect Senor Garcia
@@barbaralcharles Thank you!!
Yes, the other trains are the S-446, and it don't have toilets
I tend to travel on this stock quite a bit and I must tell you that they aren't really great for regional services. They were refurbished in 2015, where they added regional seating and "PMR" carriages but it's still not good for 3+ hours of journey, mostly because it's still a commuter train and its suspension is harsh. You should try the other service tho, "Media Distancia" or MD, which uses much nicer and modern S-449 stock.
I remember travelling on this line way back in 1958 on a journey from Dieppe to Barcelona , We had to change trains at Portbou because of the gauge change. I was 14 at the time and my first trip abroad. Our eventual destination was Mallorca, The leg from Barcelona to Mallorca being flown on a Iberia DC3.
Hillo good morenimg h we are you l ook v
This train series were built between 1993 and 2003. They were prepared for use in "Cercanías" services (commuter trains). In Catalonia at 2010, some of theese units changed their seats (they used to have plastic ones) to the ones that appear in the video. And since 2013, renfe is refurbishing all the units to make them accessible.
Graffitie is a very big problem in Spain, specially at Catalonia, Asturias Narrow Gauge trains (the old FEVE) and at freight trains.
Graffiti is a fucking nightmare, the difference is that while other countries fight against it, Renfe doesn't give a fuck to clean them and the law doesn't even consider it a crime so police don't do shit either... What an embarrassment of a country.
You should also mention the centre-north area of spain (Burgos-Basque Country-Navarre) where all regional trains (old 470 series) have been totally covered graffiti for years already and haven't been cleaned yet!! It's a shame, almost like a 3rd world country.
@@osasunaitor My country meanwhile be like: "That's why you need corporal punishment"
I've waiting for the new video since last week.. And it's worth the time.. Keep up the good work! Thanks for making this video!
I went to Barcelona this past Christmas, and I wanted to take the train to Carcassonne and Toulouse in France. Of course, the trains in France were on strike, so I rented a car instead. I don't like to have to drive when I'm on vacation, so I was disappointed. It actually worked out good, because the places we went to in Toulouse were not easily reached by public transport.
This is a really nice video to watch man, actually i enjoy watching all of your videos. Stay safe out there!
Nice video! A few years ago I took the SNCF overnight train from Paris to Latour de Carol, then the Rodalies R3 from there to Barcelona Sants. Also a very scenic journey I would recommend!
Portbou seems like a fascinating place!
nice video. Greetings from Seoul 🇰🇷👋
Great spanish trip report.
You should also try the "Media Distancia" services on the same line, R11, they're assured with the newer series S/449 by CAF which are modern EMUs with higher inside quality standards, power sockets (as far as I remember, two each two seats), tray table, footrest and also higher top speed, 160km/h. Series 447 regional trains are a bit disappointing for having stiffer suspension and only a top speed of 120km/h -as you said on the video-, fortunately they speed up very fast, well they were conceived for commuter services with lots of stops services.
The next time you should go with the Civia model of Renfe Rodalies de Catalunya, are beautiful (for me) but these trains are a little bit old, in 2022 I think Renfe Will Renove It's flote. Great job with your videos! 👍
Je connais la gare de portbou vraiment bien et c’est rare de la voir mis en avant comme ça surtout avec le train de nuit portbou-paris austerlitz qui est vraiment formidable
You should try out some ScotRail services in Scotland if you haven't already. Good mix or commuter, intercity and rural lines.
I agree but I wouldn’t suggest my local services because the Ayrshire lines are possibly the most boring lines on the network
@@aidan4473 I quite like when I'm going back home to Ayr along the coast. Scenery there is pretty good. Better than urban sameness of some of the central belt lines.
Your right James, simply railway fella would enjoy riding our trains in Scotland and we have really scenic journeys from Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway right up to Thurso and Wick in the far north. We have a good mix of rolling stock and they are all comfy, from super sprinters and turbos to our refurbed HSTs and hitachi 385s.
These trip reports get my mind off the strange times we’re in at the moment.
Nice video !! Greetings from Concepción, Chile !!
Liking the new font on videos!
Bom video excelente parabéns
Recent? Those are one of the oldest trains in service in Spain
447 EMUs were intruced betweem 1993 and 2001, following several batches. The one on the video (447.176, with motor cars 351 and 352) was builded by Alstom and CAF and delivered in 2000/2001. On 2015, the original intermediate trailer was scraped and new one builded by Alstom and Renfe Integria with lower floor and PRM WC, and also more confortable seating, but this change is only for the catalan EMUs only. 447s are a evolution of 446s, with triphasic traction, improved speed and toilets, but they are a suburban train, not a regional, and making the whole trip is quite a nightmare. En tout cas, merci bcp pour la vidéo !
Vivement la vidéo du train de nuit Austerlitz-Portbou. Je l’ai pris régulièrement étant petit pour les vacances de Noel afin de me rendre chez les grand parents, oncles, tantes et cousin à Perpignan ! Et le Talgo catalan... je l’ai pris une fois de Montpellier à Perpignan à l’époque où le TGV ne faisait que Paris-Montpellier sur cette branche. Je n’ai que peu de souvenirs car j’étais petit encore, j’avais juste trouvé ce train très étrange à l’époque. Il me faisait peur.
Tu peux déjà regarder sa vidéo Austerlitz - Toulouse Matabiau Intercités de nuit sur la chaine, c'est ma vidéo préférée.
RENFE replaced some of the older regional 470 series-trains with refurbished 447s fitted with more seats. These refurbished trains seemed to be more reliable and polivalent, due to they have much greater acceleration, but less max speed. In the 470 series, seats are more confortable, and the interior much quieter, better for long distances.
Nice!
That’s right, they were refurbished in 2015. the 447s were introduced from 1993. The Cercanías equivalent, the 446s date from 1989.
Oh I believe I took this train from Barcelona to Figueres some years ago (visiting the Dalí Museum) in the midst of summer and it was a bit of a nightmare: crowded, a tad uncomfortable, hot and travel time of 2.5 hours. We were a bit shocked to see the ticket prices for the AVE, so we took the regional train. Other than that, we did enjoy the trip though :) Thanks for this video; brings back good memories of a great holiday :)
Yes, AVE is expensive if booked last-minute, but if booked in advance, it can actually be (slightly) cheaper then regional fares. Of course, then you're stuck with a fixed timetable, and those regional trains aren't that bad for a relatively short trip.
The S-447 was designed for urban commuter services. They have great acceleration and they are one of the most reliable urban rail units in the world. Extremely resistant and with good performance. They are not the best choice for regional services, but unfortunately Renfe has a shortage of stock. The S-440 (the most common regional and medium distance unit in Spain) is now way too old, and they don't have enough 449 series (which is supposedly the adequate series for this type of service). So what they did do? Simply refurbish the S-447, put some "comfy" seats (they aren't really comfy, but the ones used in Madrid and Barcelona are simply made of plastic, hard as a stone) and here we are: using this material for medium distance services. Of course, they still do the job. But they shouldn't be. I invite you to do the Barcelona-Puigcerdà trip. They are also done with 447, extremely beautiful scenery. But sometimes they operate the wrong 447 and instead of these seats you get a unit with the plastic seats. 3 hours of back pain!
Bah c'est un petit trip report bien sympathique. Si le train était complet, tu n'aurais jamais dit qu'on a l'impression d'avoir plein d'espace dedans !!! Super pour ta présentation de la gare en travaux, et ça j'adore, parce que tu nous as bien redonné l'ambiance de la gare, avec ses bruits et ses sons. Bon pas grand chose à dire de plus, sinon que je préfère nos gares et nos trains. Personnellement, l'architecture des gares espagnoles que tu nous as montrées ne me séduit pas, ne me convient pas d'un point de vue esthétique. Je trouve, et c'est un sentiment très profond, que nos gares et nos trains sont les meilleurs au monde.
I have taken this train when i was on holiday in Spain (Catalonia)
There used to be an overnight train connecting Milan/Turin to Barcelona. It was operated by Trenitalia, SNCF and Renfe (a sort of code share). The train ceased to operate in December 2012 and has never been resumed ever since.
That's sad. We need more overnight trains.
I cant understand why exist deslikes in this video, the video is very good
Good vídeo! 8:10 Yes, that's definitely an issue and many people here have been calling for more funding for regional services. Still, in my personal experience, this is a greater problem in France than in Spain, at least when it comes to most suburban services (Cercanías in Spain). Regional services are probably around the same as in France, although Spanish rolling stock is often nicer / more modern.
Also, the 447 units used to be a common sight here in Madrid too, but unfortunately they were gradually moved to other cities and now there's none left anymore which is a shame! They're pretty reliable units, most are also upgraded these days (called PMR here), which actually makes them quite modern too, although they may not look like it. I grew up to the sound of their traction motors, so I miss them a lot. Most of Madrid's 447s actually went to Barcelona after being refurbished, meaning that Barcelona now has a younger fleet than Madrid, especially considering the recent upgrade. That said, as you could see they're in pretty rough condition due to lack of maintenance, but also because Catalonia has a way worse graffiti problem for some reason.
Greetings from Madrid, Spain!
Spain has quite a number of disconnected suburban networks who can out from the city quite a long way (like Portbou-Barcelona...), and these generally work reasonably well, but in between, if it's not an AVE or other semi-highspeed train, chances are service levels are absolutely abysmal. In France, only Paris currently has a working RER/Transilien network, while other cities are not as good. but even if I find most TER services underwhelming, lines with only 1-3 trains a day are relatively rare, while Spain even has lines that don't even see a train every day of the week (Zafra-Huelva, for instance...) But I agree both countries neglect their non-HST networks.
I was on a 447 like the one in the video on the local service from Cercedilla to Segovia town station last year. I know there is a lot of them on regional services in Catalonia. It is a lovely journey over the Guadarrama mountains from Cercedilla to Segovia and a fair amount of stations in between. The train from Madrid Chamartin to connect to it was the double decker 450.
@@markm-1976 That is a beautiful line, indeed. Some 10 years ago, there were threats of closing that line, as Segovia 'has a new station on the LAV', but as they are still going, let's hope the line is safe for the moment.
Bonne video
The Renfe S-447 series were built in the 90s, together with the S-446 series, that is also a commuter train, similar to the S-447 series. Then, it was refurbished to enable disablers to ride the commuter trains. So it's a 90s train that was refurbished in 2015. Anyway, I recommend you to try a Civia commuter train, built in the 2000s
7:36 This was built in 1993 and refurbished in 2015
Quick comment, the trains are actually verte old. They were refurbished but they did the Minimum as theyre supoosed to buy new ones
Hopefully, your set was a refurbished one.The new seats aren't the best but more comfy than old ones. The refurbishment is still in progress, as it is going slowly because Renfe waits until the units have to go to heavy manteinance to do the refurbishment. It consists on new seats, new PIS and a whole new central carriage with the disabled access. They were built in 1990-92 for growing capacity to the commuter area (Rodalies / Cercanias) for the 1992 Olympics. But nowadays, this units can be seen doing commuter or regional services (longer than commuter, such as R11 line)
I’ve done that route countless times France to Spain without the stupid reservation prices on interrails
Enjoyed video. Have subscribe to your channel.
That's really weird, the exterior of the train looks completely dated and the colour scheme doesn't help. But then the interior is really modern but the interior colours don't match the exterior colour scheme.
The seats also look like those on the UK's High Speed InterCity 80x trains but without tables.
Thats because this is a 447 PMR. A refurbished version of the 447 including new info screens and a lower door entrance for wheelchairs. The commuter trains at Cataluña have always graffiti in their exteriors, this problem doesn't happen in the rest of commuter trains of Spain. You cannot find a clean train, seriously. Rodalies doesn't actually care about graffiti.
About the color scheme, Renfe uses red colours for their commuter trains while Rodalies Catalunya use orange, the trains are owned by Renfe but operated by Rodalies so the interiors often come with Renfe colours.
Exterior of the train looks great with a clean design. Not outdated at all.
@@paname514 Yep its a cool design but not clean at all (the exterior).
@@julskat The design is cool with clean lines, but the train is not clean, it is dirty. I hope this is more clear :)
Hello, I will explain it better, since I have ridden on those trains many times. First of all, these trains are equivalent to a bathroom underground, because in Barcelona it is used as a second underground, since most stations have Rodalies and connect to each other. This train makes longer routes, intended for a traveler and low cost price, but if you want to pay more money, you could choose an AVE Those trains have economy / business cabin, and in some cases first class, with ife screens, tables, restaurant, service on board etc ... Although instead of being € 5, it could be € 60. And there are also intermediate options
Well, I've some friends on Catalonia that likes trains and they told me rodalies trains break a lot
I like the signs that they use at stations in Spain, in different languages.
yeah Catalan language and well spanish.
My favourite spain regional train
If you think that Portbou station is strange in fact of configuration you need to try Pisa San Rossore train station;the second station of Pisa after Pisa Centrale that is obviously the main😉
You should try the Abellio ScotRail Inter7city Glasgow Queen Street to Inverness/Aberdeen train service in Scotland. It is quite scenic along the route 🏴
It looks like a 2015 model to me with all the screens inside. Also, the LED lights are a good sign.
The train was built in 1993. It was refurbished in 2015
447 entered service as early as 1992. 2015 is the year they got refurbished. They should have done it better. Still no power outlet no usb port after the refurbishment. Seats cushion are now better than orginally built though.
Very nice régional train I don't think it was built in 2015 as the train looks sort of 1970s/80s but probably refurbished in 2015 and they did a bloody great job of it
This is built in 1993
My father he worked for the New York New Haven and Hartford Rairoad He also got me into model trains too This is just my plan at this time But next April 18 2024 I hope to ride a TRE to Fort Worth Texas to connect with the Heartland Flyer I want to visit the memorial and Museum to the Okahoma City Bombing April 19 2024 ia an anversirery I see that you are very very well traveled man too
1:13 what do you mean the last one? I thought there was Paris - Briançon / LDCarol as well?
Great video as always and can't wait for night train SNCF review 🤩
La Tour de Carol et Briancon sont en territoire Francais. Portbou est en territoire Espagnol :)
Ah d'accord, merci! C'est vrai que plein de trains de nuit comme Paris-Irun n'ont pas survécu :(
Yummy Video
3:51 On these sleeping trains you could also take your car with you. Convenient, but expensive.
Good video. Would you ever consider using a voiceover instead of subtitles? 🤔 Voiceovers allow you to focus on the footage and also mean you don’t have to worry about the timing of the subtitles (which are sometimes too quick to read). People who prefer subtitles can still turn on auto captioning. Just an idea ...
You should try to do a video of portuguese trains. I advise you to try Alfa Pendular or Intercidades. Both are fast trians and I would like to know your opinion about them! :D
Like
Oh no, it's a minor adaptation of the seats used on our horrible 800s! :(
Hello if you see regional train went to Illescas station to Sevilla santa justa station its very interesting and fantástic
So you're 23-24 years old this year right?
Donald Trump is that you?!?!!??!!?
Cercanías (Madrid) and rodalies (catalunya) are the same as RER in Paris.
The train was refurbished in 2015. I guess it is 25 yrs old
Ooohhh the route i couldn't do in December because of the strikes in France. The intercité de nuit didn't run.
By the way the Rosalie's doesn't show up in the international timetable called Hafas. This is really an issue because they connect lots of popular tourist destinations and also some Rosalie's trains will go into France (this some trains of the R11 will go to Cerbere as well and some trains start / end in Latour de Carol). The same thing with the Euskotren, this is why I made a video about the Euskotren.
Ahah the famous strike :)
@@SimplyRailway haha yup, same one that effected you ;)
@@Trainviking Hafas needs to be fed this information, if Renfe isn't interested in providing this information, it won't show. And yes, it's a shame. And it's not like the Renfe website is of much help, either. But what does work, is Google Maps, I've seen. They have both Suburban services, international services and Spanish long distance services in their database, as well as a number of buses. Don't know how up-to-date it is kept, but at least it can give an idea. I tried this with a trip from Toulouse to Vic.
Chceck some PKP Intercity connections, u should really try it.
Or try some suburban connections in Warsaw, especially serviced by unrefurbished EN57.
you will never see a ``cercanias´´ without graffiti in cataluña xD
Catalonias commuter rails are called "Rodalies de Catalunya" for the iberian gauge and "ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya" for the 1 meter gauge, there's no "cercanías" here
@@josejaviera5276 "Rodalies" is the local name of Cercanías. They were actually called "Cercanías" until 10-15 years ago. The rebranding was carried out by Artur Mas.
@@albertolaboria5866 its not just a rebranding,in 2023 FGC Will probably asume operations now cared by Renfe as OSP services Will be liberalized. Also, I think they were called Renfe Rodalies, like in Valencia
@@josejaviera5276 They are still operated by Renfe, so yes, it's a rebranding - nothing has changed for the users, although it's nominally 'managed' by the regional government (Generalitat).
If another operator takes over the service, sure it would become a different thing.
The article on the Wikipedia explains very well the situation es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodalies_de_Catalunya
@@albertolaboria5866 yes, Renfe operates trains and ADIF the tracks, but the Generalitat and AMB run pricing and fares, and design the lines
I wonder is the regional trains still running from Portbou to Barcelona? I can see the trains on Google map, but I can't find it on Renfe website or other ticket booking websites like eurail or omio.
🇪🇸✌️
You were quite lucky, it's always very windy in Portbou. You cannot record any videos without that annoying sound!
Regarding the 447 Unit. There are from 1993, making them close to 30 years in passenger service. There were refurbished recently, getting a brand new middle carriage for Disabled people, with same-level with the platforms.
Also, the seats of the 447 Unit are very comfortable, compared with the original ones. Few minutes sat down on them, and you cannot feel your back for the rest of the day!
It has no USB plug cause Ira San regional train no interntional/IC trainset you won't find that on Regional train sets in Germany either
The good old times with the night trains, but a question, where do you come from? which country?
He is from France, like me. Now, he works in the USA.
You should trip report the new-ish LNER azuma trains
Good toilets, even with doors announcements (installed in toilets, yep).
S-447 are not new! They were made in the 90s and refurbished recently despite they kinda haven't changed
The S-447 was built in 1993
I hope you'll make a new train trip in Romania, it will be interesting😅😉
I did one. It worked.
Lol this trains have not plug maybe usb but any conmuter train in spain have a plug.
Intercity trains do have them
Any commuter train?
You won't find a plug on the trains of the Cercanías Murcia-Alicante network. Same thing for the old talgos (branded "ALTARIA") operating along the Mediterranean coast (Lorca/Cartagena - Barcelona). Imagine a 8h journey without plugs...
When have you recorded this video?
I think it was on December 2019.
The trains names as "Renfe Media distancia" are much better than these ones and they do the same R11 service
I would like to do 3 cruises with American Cruise Lines ONE goes out of Providence R I two goes out of Boston Ma Three goes out of Portland Maine I plan to go on the Amtrak Downeaster That some plans a lot further on down the road I just want a train to take me from point A to B I have never put to much stock in commuter rail Those poor trains get used and abused The only commuter rail that I ride is the Metro North Just New Your Grand Central to Stamford Ct
Yeah its weird with countries like Spain, France, Belgium having fantastic mainline infrastructure and how shocking some of the regional assets are. I mean come on, a simpel platform with basic pavement doesn't cost *that* much!
What's the story with the graffiti on these Spanish and Italian trains? Compared to this, North America trains (mainly VIA Rail and Amtrak) look pristine.
Face reveal 6:40
This was before the coronavirus?
yes of course
5:44 ummmmmmm!! No! No! Never! Get those darned feet off that seat! At least wear some socks, darn it
Even with socks and shoes it’s a disgusting practice 😡 but that was just downright nasty with the bare feet 🤮
Are not graffiti are delinquents, is different
hola tots io enat acesta estasio es porvou itanve epujat acest tren
This station quite resemblance the station I went to in Malaysia, the capital Kuala Lumpur old railway station. The arch ceiling looks quite similar.
Are there elevators and/or escalators in this station? oopps..sorry...i see them..to soon for critics :).
Frumos salutări din românia meriți un like de la mine Vasilică Stoica
NOPE. Any train were you can drop an earring between cars and easily have it bounce out onto the tracks is not OK with me!
Estas 447 son modificadas, no todas son así, no digas cosas que no sabes, y no se puede cambiar de vagón
¿Cómo que no se puede pasar de un coche al otro? Claro que sí.
Well Simply Railway My Dr Dr Dickson He is my heart Dr He has grounded me I had a problem with my 2021 toyota Carolla It had to be jumped 4 times I should not have that problem Toyota checked out my cr Put me a brand new battery in my car at no charge On the way home I stoped off at my heart Dr I told my Dr my plans He said That I could do any thing that I want but he wants me to keep my ass on the ground no more Southwest Airlines
The United State needs to wake up We go to build a high speed rail I have heard that it will 3x over budget Britian and France can build a tunnel or a chunnel Build it on time and on budget The swiss build 3 railway tunnels on time on budget Would be real nice to travel to New York at 1866 mphI watched a program on You Tube a while back about the building of the tunnelss Have you ever been in the Gunter Tunnel You do travel in that part of the world
Along with R T C/ NT C Orlando R T C / N T C SanDiego was closed R T C / N T C Great Lakes in North Chicago Illimois I had got off of the City of New Orleans I had time to kill So I took a metra up to North Chicago OMG If North Chicago had a naval Training Center you could not tell it Every thing was gone My late wife a real gem omg They do not make them like her any more She was U S Army Stationed at Fort Sheridan No more Fort Sheridan
Our trains are garbage not gonna lie
Renfe is always messing around Rodalies. Trains tend to fail. A lot.
Ewww graffiti, but why is there always graffiti on renfe trains?
this happens a lot with the trains in barcelona/cataluña but not in the rest of spain ;)
@@xXBears77Xx You are right, Renfe has always left Catalonia with a more modern fleet, but in worse condition.
Since you have not been raised here in the States I will fill you in on this Back in the 1960 s and even easlier The United States Navy had a Naval Training Center in North Chicago Back in the 1960 s wwe had a draft When you reached the age of 18 years old You would a letter from your dear ole Uncle Sam Telling You that your were Drafted Report to your Army Recuiter At that time you could make your choise I did not get drafted I enlisted I did my basic Training or as it is all so called Boot Camp Well after what they call the Cold War mY OF OUbases were not need Also Congress cut the budget too When the budget was cut something Well our Pentagon decided to close bases When these bases closed a lot of people where out of worth Like thousands sO r t c / n t c Orland was closed
That graffiti looks awful and just helps to give the whole station and train a feeling of being rundown and neglected.
F
Cataluña
Madrid is better
Graffiti on the sides of trains... only on mainland Europe. Disgusting.
Actually only in Mediterranean Europe: Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Balkans...
The true shitholes of Europe I'm not gonna lie (I'm spanish btw)