Barcelona > History

 Barcelona Metro Projects

In May 1999, finally a new master plan for metro and light rail lines in the Barcelona metropolitan area was approved by the ATM (Autoritat del Transport Metropolità), which included some 50 km of new lines to be built within 10 years. In the meantime, several new projects were added and many modified (sections under construction in bold type):

L1

Northern extension: 4 km from Fondo to Badalona Pompeu Fabra (L2) and Badalona Renfe, with three intermediate stations:
Montigalà Centre (Rambla Sant Joan / Passeig Olof Palme / Liszt)
Lloreda-Sant Crist (next to Lloreda market)
Bufalà: (Av. Martí i Pujol / Bufalà)

Possible southern extension from Hospital de Bellvitge via El Prat de Llobregat (L9) towards Sant Boi.

L2

An extension to Morera may be added at the northern end. From Morera a tram-type line will reach Can Ruti hospital.

A southern extension has been planned for decades now, but once the target of building it for the 1992 Olympics was missed it has been postponed time and again, although it is still actively being pursued:

5.2 km with 5 new stations:
Poble Sec (L3)
Fira 1 MNAC (serving the older parts of the Exhibition Centre and the Museu d’Art de Catalunya
INEFC: Sports University near the Olympic Stadium and Palau Sant Jordi
Foc Cisell (on Passeig de la Zona Franca > L9)
Fira 2 (new fairgrounds at Pedrosa in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat > L9)

There is an option to add another 2.8 km and link L2 directly to L9 at Parc Logístic, with the two lines sharing tracks from there to the Airport.

L3

Many proposals have appeared in the past for a southern extension from Zona Universitària. The currently envisaged route runs via Esplugues and Sant Joan Despí to Sant Feliu de Llobregat (8.6 km, 9 stations):
Finestrelles – Sant Joan de Déu
Esplugues Centre (Trambaix)
Sant Just Centre
Hospital comarcal del Baix Llobregat (TV3)
Fontsanta (Trambaix M. Martí i Pol)
Sant Joan Despí
Torreblanca
Sant Feliu - Consell Comarcal (Trambaix)
Sant Feliu Centre

At the northern end, an extension from Trinitat Nova to Trinitat Vella is planned.

L4

To be extended from La Pau to the planned Sagrera AVE Railway Station (L9/10) and to Sagrera-Meridiana (L1, L5, L9/10). The new section will include an intermediate station at Santander/Rambla Prim. The tunnel between La Pau and this point already exists and is used to access the metro depot at Triangle Ferroviari. The finished section between Sagrera-Estació and Sagrera-Meridiana is temporarily used by lines L9/L10.

 

L5

Along the existing line, between Collblanc and Pubilla Cases, construction of a new station called Ernest Lluch was started, but never finished; it would provide transfer to the Trambaix.

 

L6

2.6 km extension from Reina Elisenda to Finestrelles-Sant Joan de Déu on the planned L3 extension, with two intermediate stations at Monestir de Pedralbes and Universitats.

 

L7

no imminent plans

 

L8

The Metro del Baix Llobregat (FGC line terminating at Plaça Espanya) may be extended into the city centre via Hospital Clínic to Plaça Francesc Macià and eventually to Gràcia where it might get connected to line L7 Av. Tibidabo. Line L8 would serve the urban stretch like a metro.

 

L9

The master plan includes a new line, which will run like a semicircular line from the airport and Passeig de la Zona Franca to Zona Universitària, further on to Sarrià and Lesseps and via Guinardó and Sagrera-Meridiana to the planned Sagrera AVE Railway Station. Then north to Bon Pastor and under the Besòs river splitting into two branches, one to Santa Coloma (Can Zam) and one to Badalona (Gorg - L2). Construction from La Sagrera (L1, L5) north to Can Zam and Gorg began in late 2001 and was completed in 2010.

L9/10 is being excavated by tunnel boring machines at great depth, with a 12 m diameter tunnel, which allows trains to run on top of each other. Also stations will be located inside this tunnel and be accessible by lifts. The line will be operated in driverless mode and the stations are therefore equipped with platform screen doors. The Zona Franca leg in the south will be elevated. The project has repeatedly been modified, especially in the airport area. The first section of this 46.6 km long line was due to open in 2005 from Fondo to Can Zam, but the first section was only brought into service in Dec. 2009, with the second of the two northern branches following in 2010.

While construction on the central section between Zona Universitària and La Sagrera has been suspended for several years due to financial problems, the next stages to open are the airport branch (Spring 2016?) and then the Zona Franca branch

More about L9 incl. photos of Fondo station

L10

see L9

L11

Line 11 was equipped with platform screen doors and converted to driverless operation.

 

 Outside Barcelona, the FGC S2 branch is being extended underground:

S2

- in Sabadell, from a point west of the present surface station Sabadell-Estació via the city centre and RENFE's Sabadell Nord station at Pl. d'Espanya to Ca n’Oriac (4.2 km). The existing tunnel from Sabadell-Estació to Sabadell-Rambla will be abandoned.

- More details here

 

Although this master plan is the official guideline for the development of the rapid transit network in and around Barcelona, only the future will show whether politicians stick to it. A very similar plan was already approved in 1971 for the following 8 years to create a network of 111km and 142 stations. 30 years later, the Barcelona Metro has reached 83.5 km. Click here to see the 1971 Metro Plan.

For project updates click here.

 


L1~ L2~ L3~ L4~ L5~ L6~ L7~ L8~ ~ L11 ~

2004 © Robert Schwandl