[2] FGC was founded on 5 September 1979 to manage lines whose ownership was transferred from the state-owned FEVE to the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1978 as part of the process of regional devolution under the Spanish Constitution of 1978.

Its oldest line, the standard gauge Línia Barcelona-Vallès however dates back to 1863 which was built and operated by Companyia del Ferrocarril de Barcelona a Sarrià from 1863 until 1874, and Ferrocarril de Sarrià a Barcelona (FSB) (with Ferrocarrils de Catalunya (FCC)) from 1874 until severe financial difficulties forced FSB and FCC to be acquired by FEVE in 1977, which operated it until FGC took over the line in 1979.

Voice announcements and signs on trains and stations of lines operated by FGC are exclusively in the Catalan language, unlike in the lines operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona and Renfe which remain bilingual or trilingual (Catalan, Spanish or "Castellano" and eventually English) in order to serve a large and diverse userbase.

Recent budget cuts had left the line in a worse state than it was on Renfe days, with then three daily services from Lleida to Balaguer and only one running the whole length up to La Pobla de Segur.

FGC currently operates two types of freight services on the Llobregat–Anoia line; one of which carries potash and salt from Súria and Sallent respectively to Martorell for cleaning and processing before being sent to the Port of Barcelona, and the other carries cars from SEAT's main factory in Martorell to the Port of Barcelona.