[3] The line originally had no branches, with Sant Vicenç de Calders and Maçanet-Massanes serving as its only southernmost and northernmost terminus, respectively.

A new line scheme has been in operation ever since; the services starting or terminating at the airport run north towards Maçanet-Massanes and are designated R2 Nord ("North"), whilst the ones starting or terminating at Estació de França run south towards Sant Vicenç de Calders and are designated R2 Sud ("South").

[6] Like the rest of Rodalies de Catalunya lines, the R2 runs on the Iberian gauge mainline railway system, which is owned by Adif, an agency of the Spanish government.

The rest of R2 services continue northwards through the Aragó Tunnel, calling at El Clot-Aragó railway station, and share tracks with the R11 only.

The services terminating at Vilanova i la Geltrú call at all stations along their route, whilst the ones terminating at Sant Vicenç de Calders operate limited service, running non-stop between Sitges and Castelldefels, as well as Gavà and Barcelona Sants.

The rest of the services on the R2 run between Castelldefels and Granollers Centre, calling at all stations, so that they terminate neither at the airport nor at Estació de França.

The Nord and Sud designations refer to the fact that such services mostly run on the line's northern and southern portion, respectively.

Furthermore, they consist of double-decker cars, becoming the only type of bilevel rolling stock on the Rodalies de Catalunya system.

[9] On average, the trains used on the line operate a total of 216 services every day on weekdays, accounting for a ridership of 125,948, according to 2008 data.

A long-term project with an uncertain completion date, the new configuration would require multimillion-euro investments since it is associated with the construction of a new underground route in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat for the Rodalies de Catalunya lines running through the city as well as the new rail link for Barcelona–El Prat Airport.

[18] As stated in the master plan, the proposed peak-time service frequencies for the future R2 would be as follows:[19] The following table lists the name of each station served by line R2 in order from south to north; the station's service pattern offered by R2, R2 Nord and/or R2 Sud trains; the transfers to other Rodalies de Catalunya lines, including both commuter and regional rail services; remarkable transfers to other transport systems; the municipality in which each station is located; and the fare zone each station belongs to according to the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM Àrea de Barcelona) fare-integrated public transport system and Rodalies de Catalunya's own fare zone system for Barcelona commuter rail service lines.