Monbus

As planned, the second phase of the project Exprés.cat was launched today, by means of the incorporation of three additional buses which will reinforce the line Igualada - Barcelona (e5).
The Department of Territory and Sustainability of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Igualada City Council and Hispano Igualadina (Monbus), aim with this joint action to satisfy the demands of the users which frequent the line and to offer a better service.
Due to this measure, the line e5 Exprés will have now a total of 28 daily departures without stops from Igualada to Barcelona and 23 from Barcelona to Igualada, which implies an overall increase of 30 direct lines every day. The two cities will be joined by a fifty minutes journey, with a bus frequency which will range between 15 and 30 minutes.
Since the launching of the first phase of the project, the flow of passengers in the corridor Barcelona - Igualada has increased a 5% in global terms and a 30% at peak hours. This upward trend coincides with the increase of lines early in the morning, the establishment of new informative panels in real time and the improvement of the Wi-Fi connection aboard the vehicles. From now on, with the incorporation of these new vehicles, up to 2.000 additional seats will be available each day, which added to the existing offer since June 2013 will make possible the travel for a total of 11.000 users every day.
The Exprés.cat net is gradually increasing with the incorporation of new lines and the improvement of the existing ones, which will connect directly the main cities of Catalonia, until reaching a total of 40 at the end of all the process.