Barcelona Metro

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Barcelona Metro
L2 9000.PNG
Info
Locale Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Transit type Rapid transit
Number of lines 9
Number of stations 150 (List)
Operation
Began operation 1924
Operator(s) Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
Technical
System length 108 km (67.1 mi) [1]
Map of the Barcelona metro system
Plaça de Catalunya station(L1)
Universitat station(L1)
Gavarra station(L5)
Ticket vending machines, Sants Estació station.

The Barcelona Metro (Catalan and Spanish: Metro de Barcelona), part of the public transportation system of Barcelona, Spain is an extensive network of electrified railways that run underground in central Barcelona and above ground into the city's suburbs. Including the two lines which are currently under construction (L9 and L10), in 2014 the network will be made up of 11 lines with 209 stations, with a total route length of approx.200 km (124.27 mi). Excluding L9 and L10, the current lines make up a total track length of 108 km (67.11 mi) and 9 lines, with 150 stations. There are a few stations that are permanently closed. Since 1997 the network has been part of Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM). In 2002 it was announced by ATM two additional lines were going to be built in the near future, L12 and L13[2].

Contents

[edit] History

The Barcelona Metro was founded in 1924 with the construction of the 'Gran Metro' between Lesseps and the Plaça de Catalunya, part of the modern line 3. Two years later the 'Metro Transversal' (now part of line 1) was built between the Plaça de Catalunya and la Bordeta to link the city centre with the Plaça d'Espanya and Montjuïc, the site of the 1929 Universal Exhibition.

In modern times the network consists of nine lines managed by 2 different operators: Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), which manages the major underground lines; and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC - Catalan Government Railways), which manages three integrated commuter lines running out into the extended metropolitan area. Fares are integrated into Autoritat del Transport Metropolità, a city-wide system that also includes local and regional buses and some regional train services. 98% of its railtracks are subsurface.

[edit] Layout

The metro network proper, operated by TMB, consists of six lines, numbered L1 to L5 and L11, and distinguished on network maps by different colours. FGC lines are numbered L6, L7 and L8. None of the Barcelona Metro lines have a name of their own but they're generally referred to by their colour or by the number and the names of their termini. They run as follows:

Line Number Termini Operator Current Length Approved Length Current Stations Approved Stations Year of Opening
Barcelona Metro line 1L1.gif
Hospital de Bellvitge - Fondo TMB 20,700 km 29,758 km 29 38 1929
Barcelona Metro line 2L2.gif
Paral·lel - Pep Ventura TMB 13,100 km 18,466 km 17 34 1959
Barcelona Metro line 3L3.gif
Zona Universitària - Trinitat Nova TMB 18,400 km 20,024 km 26 36 1924
Barcelona Metro line 4L4.gif
Trinitat Nova - La Pau TMB 16,700 km 18,916 km 22 26 1926
Barcelona Metro line 5L5.gif
Cornellà Centre - Horta TMB 16,700 km 19,168 km 23 27 1959
Barcelona Metro line 6L6.gif
Pl. Catalunya - Reina Elisenda FGC 5,384 km 8,198 km 9 12 1863
Barcelona Metro line 7L7.gif
Pl. Catalunya - Av. Tibidabo FGC 4,634 km 4,634 km 7 7 1954
Barcelona Metro line 8L8.gif
Pl. Espanya - Molí Nou-Ciutat Cooperativa FGC 11,266 km 11,266 km 11 11 1883
Barcelona Metro line 11L11.gif
Trinitat Nova - Can Cuiàs TMB 2,109 km - km 5 - 2003

[edit] Other transport in Barcelona

[edit] Tramways and Funiculars

Line Termini Operator Length Stations Opening
TrambaixTramBarcelona T1 Logo.PNG
Francesc Macià-Bon Viatge Trambaix 9,989 km 21 2004
TrambaixTramBarcelona T2 Logo.PNG
Francesc Macià-St Martí de l'Erm (apeadero) Trambaix 11,674 km 24 2004
TrambaixTramBarcelona T3 Logo.PNG
Francesc Macià-Sant Feliu/Consell Comarcal Trambaix 10,426 km 19 2004
TrambesòsTramBarcelona T4 Logo.PNG
Estació de St Adrià-Ciutadella Vila Olimpica Trambesòs 6,829 km 14 2004
TrambesòsTramBarcelona T5 Logo.PNG
Glòries-Gorg Trambesòs 7,228 km 13 2006
TrambesòsTramBarcelona T6 Logo.PNG
Estació St Adrià-Gorg Trambesòs 4,674 km 8 2008
Tramvia BlauBSicon TRAM.svg
Tramvia Blau TMB 1,276 km 1 1901
TOTAL (7 tramway lines) 52,096 km 100 -
Funicular de MontjuicFunimontjuic Logo.gif
Funicular de Montjuic TMB 0,758 km 2 1928
Funicular del TibidaboLogo funivallvidrera.png
Funicular del Tibidabo TMB 1,152 km 2 1901
TOTAL (2 Funiculares) 1,910 km 4 -
TOTAL Tramvía + Funicular 54 km 104 -

The Funicular de Montjuïc, a funicular railway, is fare-integrated and listed on maps as part of the metro network, being connected directly to the metro at Paral·lel station.

In addition to those, Renfe and FGC trains and the increasingly important Trambaix and Trambesòs routes and stations are displayed on most recent maps, including the info maps in the metro stations, all in a single variety of dark green.

[edit] Lines 9 and 10

Construction work is taking place currently on L9/L10, which will run from Badalona and Santa Coloma to the Zona Franca district and El Prat International Airport. The lines, which will share a central section between Bon Pastor and Torrassa (L1), will be the longest underground metro line in Europe, at 30 miles (48.3 km), and will have 55 stations. The project was approved in 2000[3] but has been challenged by some technical difficulties and some of their sections are pending further geological analysis, which of 2007 is the reason for the delay in the construction of some of the mentioned sections, which won't be ready until 2010 or even as late as 2014.

[edit] Proposed lines

Lines L12 and L13 are two current planned additions to the network.

[edit] L12 / R3

A version of the project for this line, which has been recently given the name of R3, would connect some of the urban area municipalities in Baix Llobregat, such as Esplugues de Llobregat, Sant Joan Despí or Sant Just Desvern, more efficiently than the original idea, besides bringing them closer to the capital by optimising connections with the bus, tram and train systems. It's due to be completed in 2015 with a budget of close to 870 million euro.

[edit] L13

This line would become, along with L11, one of the two underground light-rail lines fully integrated into the network. As is the case with L11, it's intended to provide access to a hilly area of the metropolitan area: the hospital in Can Ruti in Badalona. The original project includes only three stations (which doesn't mean there won't be further additions):

[edit] Past projects

Besides the current projects above mentioned, from the 1960s onwards some projects were put forward. These would include a service numbered line VI (following the Roman numeral convention of the network at the time), or a 1980s project for a line crossing Avinguda Diagonal from north-west to south-east, the Diagonal line.[4]

[edit] Cards and pricing

In addition to the one way ticket (1.35€ as of June 2009[5] there are a number of other tickets and cards. All of the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM) transport cards are valid and can be used in the Barcelona Metro. These are:

  • T10
  • T50/30 - 50 days made in 30 consecutive days from the first use
  • T Familiar (70/30)
  • T Mes
  • T Trimestre
  • T Dia
  • T Jove

All the metro stations are on fare zone 1. Tariffs (as of 2009), including all zones, are the following:

T 10 T Jove T 50/30 T Mes T Dia T Trimestre T Familiar (70/30) T 12 for children
Fare zone 1 7,70 112 31'50 47,90 5,80 131,50 45,50 35,00
Fare zone 2 15,40 162 52,80 69,10 9,15 191,00 64,00
Fare zone 3 21,00 217 74,15 93,35 11,55 258,00 87,75
Fare zone 4 27,00 261 92,25 111,00 13,00 307,00 107,50
Fare zone 5 31,00 297 109,00 127,50 14,75 350,00 124,00
Fare zone 6 32'95 308 121,50 136,00 16,50 362,50 133,50

[edit] Stations

As of mid 2007, there are currently 150 operational stations in the Barcelona Metro, served by the 9 lines in current use, which will increase to 209 when lines L9 and L10 are finally completed. The average distance between stations is 650 metres.

An overwhelming majority of stations in the network lack related buildings or structures aboveground, as opposed to other subway networks as the London Underground, mostly consisting of an access with stairs, escalators and sometimes an elevator. The official TMB metro indicator, a red rhombus with a M inside, isn't still used by FGC lines, which use their company logo and a different rhombus-shaped logo inside stations. Below ground their decoration is remarkably sober, with the exception of a few stations.

[edit] Disused stations

A number of stations in the network have been closed, were never inaugurated, or a have been moved to a nearby location. See the main article for more details.

[edit] The metro network in 2014

Line Termini Opened in Length in km Stations
L1 Hospital de Bellvitge - Badalona Centre 1926 20,72 30
L2 Fira 2 - Morera 1995 13,53 23
L3 Zona Universitària - Trinitat Nova 1924 19,22 26
L4 Trinitat Nova - Sagrera-Meridiana 1926 18,91 25
L5 Cornellà Centre - Vall d'Hebron 1959 19,16 27
L6 Pça Catalunya - Reina Elisenda 1929 5,38 9
L7 Pça Catalunya - Av. Tibidabo 1954 4,63 7
L8 Pça Espanya - Molí Nou-Ciutat Cooperativa 1912 11,26 11
L9 Aeroport Terminal Sud - Can Zam 2009 42,6 51
L10 Zona Franca - Gorg 2010 42,6 51
L11 Trinitat Nova - Can Cuiàs 2003 2,1 5
Total 157,51 209

[edit] Transportation in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

The Barcelona Metro is part of a larger transportation network, regulated and fare-integrated by Autoritat del Transport Metropolità. See: Central ATM network chart, General ATM network chart.

Among these services, there are two large systems which operate both inside and outside the city limits of Barcelona: the commuter train lines operated by Renfe, amalgamated in the Rodalies Barcelona, or Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya lines which start in the metro lines the company operates (L6, L7 and L8 and which become a fully-fledged railway system which serves most of the metropolitan area: list of FGC lines. FGC is developing Sabadell Metro and Terrassa Metro as subway extensions of its network in the large cities of Sabadell and Terrassa respectively.

[edit] See also

[edit] Barcelona Metro topics

[edit] Rapid transit in Barcelona

[edit] Other metro systems in Spain

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rohde, Mike. "Barcelona". Metro Bits. http://mic-ro.com/metro/metrocity.html?city=109. Retrieved 2008-02-25. 
  2. ^ http://people.reed.edu/~reyn/metrobcn.pdf
  3. ^ http://people.reed.edu/~reyn/Linia9.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=564816&idseccio_PK=1022
  5. ^ http://www20.gencat.cat/portal/site/SalaPremsa/menuitem.342fe4355e0205d607d7ed42b0c0e1a0/?vgnextoid=f60f88c0b0549010VgnVCM1000000b0c1e0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f60f88c0b0549010VgnVCM1000000b0c1e0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=detall&contentid=c383c143d83fd110VgnVCM1000008d0c1e0aRCRD

[edit] External links