Metro Bilbao

Two Bilbao Metro PA trains at Bolueta station

The Bilbao Metro is the subway of the tenth largest city in Spain , Bilbao , and was opened 1995th It currently (2019) consists of three lines and is operated by the transport company of the same name . The route network uses tracks in meter gauge , is 45.1 kilometers long and serves 41 stations.

Line network

The 43.31 kilometer network has 24 underground stations and 16 on the surface. All stations are handicapped accessible.

line	colour	route	opening	length	Train stations
1	red	Plentzia ↔ Etxebarri	1995	33.3 km	28
2	black	Santurtzi ↔ Basauri	2002	22.3 km	24
3	magenta	Kukullaga ↔ Matiko	2017	5.9 km	7th

Metro map of Bilbao

Topographic representation of the Bilbao metro network (in blue)

The Bilbao Metro is the main means of transport in the greater Bilbao area. It is of central importance not only for inner-city but also for regional traffic, as it connects Bilbao with its suburbs. Furthermore, since 2002 there has been a tram again in Bilbao called EuskoTran. The suburban railways of the three operating companies Renfe Cercanías , EuskoTren and FEVE also serve as a supplement . There are also two bus companies called Bizkaibus and Bilbobus , which serve as a supplement to rail transport. The Consorcio de Transportes de Bizkaia acts as a controlling body and is responsible for ticket sales and its regulation as a tariff association .

The metro runs daily from 6 a.m. to around 11 p.m. On Fridays, operations are extended until 2 a.m. and on Saturdays the metro runs every half hour all night. During off-peak hours there is a 10 to 20-minute cycle on the two external routes, and a cycle of five to seven minutes during off-peak hours. During rush hour there is a train every five minutes. By bundling the lines on the San Inazio - Etxebarri section, the frequency is doubled.

Passenger numbers

Passenger numbers on the Bilbao Metro from 1996 to 2004, each rounded

The number of passengers on the Metro Bilbao rose steadily due to new extensions and routes being opened in densely populated areas. In the second year of the metro, the red, black and silver trains already carried 31 million passengers. In the following year the value jumped to 41 million. In 2002 the operator counted 66 million. In 2003 the 70 million mark was reached with the value of 72.6 million passengers carried, in 2004 the value rose only insignificantly to 73 million.

The most popular station on the Bilbao metro network is Abando with 6.2 million passengers, followed immediately by Casco Viejo with 6.1 million. Both are in downtown Bilbao. The least used stations can be found especially on the old suburban railway line; the line also runs through sparsely populated areas there. The lowest level it reached the station Lutxana with 202,107 passengers, followed by Lamiako with 320,505.

Tickets

Creditrans ticket

The Bilbao Metro is a closed system with access barriers modeled on the London Underground . The tickets with magnetic stripes must be read at a barrier when entering and leaving the station .

The route network is divided into three tariff zones. In addition to the usual single tickets ("Billete ocasional"), return tickets ("Ida y vuelta" - price like two single tickets), day tickets ("Billete dia"), there is also a cheap and affordable "Creditrans" ticket for tourists easy option of using the EuskoTran tram (Tranvía de Bilbao), the Bilbobus and Bizkaibus buses , the Ascensor de La Salve , the Funicular de Artxanda , the Puente de Vizcaya (or Puente Colgante ) and the Autobuses de Lujua in addition to the metro . The card, which is available for 5, 10 or 15 euros, can be reloaded in 5-euro increments. The price of a trip is over 50 percent cheaper (e.g. single trip EUR 0.69 compared to EUR 1.40).

Architecture and design

The shell-shaped entrances are the most striking works of the new Bilbao Metro. They are popularly called "Fosteritos"

The Metro Bilbao is known in the underground world above all for the design of the individual stations. The architect Norman Foster and his staff not only designed a few stations like in London on the Jubilee Line , but a completely new underground line. Foster succeeded in integrating this into the existing route to Plentzia.

For the stations, Foster used almost exclusively the very current materials of steel, concrete and glass in postmodernism . The architect pursued three key points of his concept: simplicity, functionality and aesthetics. These can be recognized, among other things, by the fact that Foster designed the stations to be spacious and clear, so that there should not be any conspicuous elements. In addition, as far as possible, natural daylight should be allowed to enter. The stations should not only be on the surface as possible to save energy, but should also be accessible as quickly as possible and without great detours. In general, great attention was paid to free access to every train station. Metro Bilbao has received several prizes since it was founded, including the GIMM Award , which was also given to wheelchair users and parents with prams and the like because of its very easy accessibility.

As the most distinctive feature of his station design, Norman Foster designed shell-shaped entrances, which were soon popularly known as “Fosterito” . They are without a doubt the most noticeable thing about the new Bilbao metro system. In 1988 Foster received the Brunel Award for Railway Architecture for his design . Usually not appreciated by passengers, the Akaba company from Irún , which manufactured the benches in the individual stations, received the national prize for industrial design from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology in November 2000 .

The designers Otl Aicher , Michael Weiss and Hans Brucklacher developed the corporate design, including the logo of the new Metro Bilbao . The colors red, black, gray and white are used for all materials used by the transport company. This enables a clear structure, which in turn serves the simplicity for the passenger. In contrast to the other three Spanish metro systems, the logo is not a red, square symbol with a blue bar. In Bilbao it consists of three red rings, some on top of each other. According to the transport company, these represent the movement of public transport. Otl Aicher developed the Rotis Semi Sans font for the metro , which is used on all publications and signs.

history

First mind games in the 1920s

On October 17, 1919, the Spanish King Alfonso XIII opened. the first Spanish metro network in the capital Madrid . The country's second largest city, Barcelona , followed a little later in 1924 with the inauguration of the Gran Metropolitano de Barcelona . The Basque city of Bilbao, traditionally very local patriotic, did not want to be left behind and also worked out plans for the first underground subway line. It was supposed to lead from the important Atxuri station - then as now the starting point for trains to Gernika , San Sebastián and Bermeo - via Basurto to Abando station , which has become the current quasi-main station of the city through several other closings and relocations. The trains to Orduña , Santander , Oviedo and Madrid, among others, end and begin here today . Due to financial problems, but also because of the Spanish civil war in the 1930s, neither the city council nor the government pursued these plans.

Big growth leads to new plans

After an economic crisis hit Spain in the 1940s and early 1950s, it was overcome again through radical economic reform until the 1960s. During this time one spoke of a "Spanish economic miracle" . As a result, the population increased disproportionately, which in turn caused major traffic problems. Neither the existing road nor the rail network in Bilbao were designed for larger populations, and the last tram line was shut down in 1964 . As a result, the Comisión de Comunicaciones de Vizcaya was founded in 1971 under the leadership of the Basque regional government, the Bilbao City Council and the Chamber of Commerce , with the aim of coordinating and regulating the existing traffic. It should also work out new solutions to existing problems.

At that time, too, the construction of a subway or at least a high-speed train line was discussed again. In general, several alternatives for routing were discussed. A network in the form of a Y and, alternatively, two separate lines were considered as variants. In addition, the questions had to be clarified how many river crossings there should be and how the various districts and communities of Bilbao should be connected. At that time, the commission also set the future key dates for the rapid transit line. In contrast to the Spanish narrow gauge network of 1000 millimeters and the Spanish broad gauge of 1674 millimeters, the mainline tracks should have the standardized European standard gauge of 1435 millimeters. The future 115-meter platforms should accommodate trains with five cars that should travel a maximum of 80 kilometers per hour. Even then, an overhead line with a voltage of 1500 volts was specified for the power supply .

In 1975 the responsibilities for the planning were transferred to the newly founded Consorcio de Transportes de Vizcaya . Two years later, the construction plan with the name “Plan de Construcción de la red de ferrocarril metropolitano de Bilbao” (construction plan for the railway line of Bilbao) was approved. However, these plans stalled as the democratization of Spain began. During this time a comprehensive restructuring of the state apparatus was necessary. At the same time, the central government of Madrid granted the Basque Country province great autonomy rights.

In 1981 the autonomous government came to the conclusion that the previous variant of the metro network was not sufficient to solve the traffic problem. In 1985 the construction project was thoroughly revised, and in 1987 the building permit for the Casco Viejo - Plentzia metro line followed . The suburban railway line Lutxana - Plentzia , which has existed since 1887 and operated by the Basque State Railways, was to be integrated into the new line, as proposed in the 1970s. For reasons of cost, it was decided to transfer the narrow gauge of 1000 millimeters used on the old suburban railway line to the metro.

Start of construction and opening

Before the concrete start of construction, Ingeniería del Metro de Bilbao, SA (IMEBISA) was founded, which was responsible for the coordination and the construction of the subway. You should also coordinate the schedule with the Basque State Railroad ( EuskoTren ) at the same time , as this had to transfer its rights after the line was closed. In 1988, together with the renovation of the old town center of Erandio, the station of the same name was laid underground on the suburban railway line. In the same year the city of Bilbao announced an international architecture competition for the design of the new metro.

In 1989 the first construction work began in downtown Bilbao for the new tunnel route including the ramp to the suburban railway, which is located near Ascao Street . The stations were built as close as possible to the surface, which in particular saves braking and starting energy. The soil in and around Bilbao consists mainly of clay, sand, quartz and a large number of rocks, which, however, are easy to excavate due to their location. The main advantage of the New Austrian Tunneling Method, which was mostly used in the soil conditions in Bilbao, was that the entire inner city did not have to be torn open. An “entrance”, the Plaza Moyua , and an “exit” near San Nicolás were sufficient . The cut-and-cover method (“dig and cover”), on the other hand, was used for longer stretches of road with deeper rock.

Two different methods were used for the two crossings under the Ría de Bilbao , which meanders through the city. For the river crossing between San Mamés and Deusto , the construction companies built two caissons 86 meters long, 11 meters wide and 7.5 meters high on a temporary dry dock near Deusto , which were slowly lowered into the river bed. This method was out of the question for the other crossing of the Nervión, as the possibility of a dry docking direction was not available here. In addition, the river is too narrow at this point. The river bed there consists mostly of rock, but also of permeable gravel , which was compacted for the construction work so that a tunnel could be bored underneath.

Entrance to Sarriko train station

On October 1, 1993 Metro Bilbao, SA was founded, the future operator organization of the metro. Shortly before the opening of the underground in November 1995, the company EuskoTren ceased operations on the Lutxana - Plentzia route on November 1 , so that it was legally transferred to the Bilbao Metro operator on November 10.

On November 11, 1995, the Lehendakari - the Basque Prime Minister - José Antonio Ardanza inaugurated the new metro line between Casco Viejo and Plentzia , which was a total of 26 kilometers long and comprised 23 stations. This is the fourth Spanish city, after Madrid , Barcelona and Valencia, to put an underground system into operation. The opening of the metro was another highlight in the redesign and revitalization of the city of Bilbao. This city is still suffering from the steel and coal crisis of the 1980s. After the Metro Bilbao, the world-famous Museo Guggenheim Bilbao and the Palacio Euskalduna congress palace followed . At the same time, major redesign and renovation measures took place in the city center.

All stations of the new tunnel route were designed by star architect Norman Foster and his work group. The main new feature in the city was supposed to be the entrances to the metro, the vernacular gave them the nickname “Fosterito” . Foster mainly used concrete, steel and glass in his design.

Step by step towards the south

Viaduct of the metro between Bolueta and Etxebarri

On June 24, 1996, the above-ground intermediate station Gobela , which lies between the Areeta and Neguri stations , was opened with a central platform. Six months later, an elevator went into operation there.

Only two years after the opening of the metro line, more precisely since July 5, 1997, the service of the metro line expanded by three stations to the south. The new Santutxu and Basarrate stations serve the half of the city on the eastern bank of the Nervión. At the same time, at the Bolueta terminus of the two-kilometer-long extension, there will be a comfortable transfer option to regional EuskoTren traffic towards Lemoa , Bermeo and San Sebastián .

Another connection to the south has existed since January 8, 2005. Since that day, the Bilbao Metro has crossed the Nervión via two viaducts one kilometer further to the Bilbao suburb of Etxebarri , where a sewage treatment plant and a steelworks of the European Arcelor group are located. The station, which like all stations of the Metro Bilbao is also equipped with elevators , has two side platforms.

A second subway route

Already in the first plans for a Bilbao express train, it was considered to also develop the northwestern bank. Also in 1995 the construction of a metro there was certain. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new line branch with five stations, which was to branch off at the three-track San Inazio station , took place in the spring of 1997.

The only above-ground station on line 2, Urbinaga

Opening dates
11.11. 1995	Casco Viejo - Plentzia	26.4 km
05.07. 1997	Casco Viejo - Bolueta	2.0 km
April 13th 2002	San Inazio - Urbinaga	5.9 km
08.01. 2005	Bolueta - Etxebarri	1.0 km
08.01. 2005	Urbinaga - Sestao	1.0 km
January 20 2007	Sestao - Portugalete	1.9 km
04.07. 2009	Portugalete - Santurtzi	1.7 km
28.06. 2014	Santurtzi - Kabiezes	1.5 km

Since the branch station is on the right bank of the Nervión, it was necessary to cross under the river again. One of the widest spots had even been selected here. However, the tunneling under two peninsulas on the planned route made this much easier. The above-average station distance between the stations of San Inazio and the first new station, Gurutzeta / Cruces, made it possible to lay the tunnel under the water at 45 meters. When building the tunnel under the river as well as the rest of the route, the construction companies mainly used the tried and tested new Austrian tunnel construction method. In some cases the "cut-and-cover" method was used again.

Norman Foster took over the architectural design of the new section. The appearance of the new stations does not differ significantly from those of the main line. The only major exception is the Ansio train station , which was built using an open construction method with a large amount of daylight.

On April 13, 2002, the new section with the new stations Gurutzeta / Cruces , Ansio , Barakaldo , Bagatza and Urbinaga went into operation. Since then, the 5.9-kilometer route has been used by its own number 2, marked in black. It serves the entire section and then travels on the main route together with Line 1 to the common terminus at Etxebarri . If the passenger looks at the rail network of the greater Bilbao area, the parallel traffic between the new line 2 and the RENFE route to Santurtzi is noticeable. The reason for the construction of the metro, however, is the high population density of the region there and the much greater distance between stops on the suburban railway.

On January 8, 2005, the line was extended by one kilometer and one station further north to Sestao , almost exactly two years later, on January 20, 2007 the line was extended by two more stations to Portugalete , on July 4, 2009 to Santurtzi . In 2011, metro line 2 should run to the final station in Kabiezes . However, this last section was not opened to traffic until 2014 due to water damage in 2011.

Trains

A train in Indautxu station

The Bilbao Metro currently uses UT-500 and UT-550 series train types. The transport company owns 24 trains of the first series and 13 of the second. In addition, the operator has fourteen service and relief trains. All wagons are regularly serviced in the Sopelana workshop , located between the Sopelana and Urduliz train stations .

The first sixteen vehicles, bearing the numbers UT 501 to 516, were supplied by the two companies CAF and ABB Henschel by November 1995. A metro train is four-part and completely accessible. In the interior, 2 + 2 seats are arranged opposite each other in the colors of the corporate design - red and gray. A prison is 72.12 meters long, 3.85 meters high and 2.8 meters wide. This means that the metro is unusually wide for a train that runs on meter gauge. Cars of the Berlin large profile , whose car body is only 2.65 meters wide, for example, travel on the European standard gauge of 1435 millimeters. The trains, like the suburban railways in the region, use the overhead line at a voltage of 1500 volts and have a total of sixteen motors of 180 kilowatts each; together that results in 2880 kilowatts per train unit. The maximum speed is 80 kilometers per hour. A train holds 712 people. This figure is based on 144 seats and 568 standing places with an average of six people per square meter.

After a new order, the number of trains increased to 24 trains with the numbers UT 517 to 524 by the second quarter of 1996. The transport company ordered from CAF and Adtranz (now the parent company of ABB ) thirteen more trains that were delivered by October 2001. The last delivery now contained the new UT-550 series trains. These differ from the predecessor in terms of higher performance and improved air conditioning.

While were closed until 1998 still partly existing Streckenabzweigungen on the old suburban line, since the systems are ATP (Automatic Train Protection, Automatic Train Protection ) and ATO (Automatic Train Operation, automated driving ) installed. The latter means that the train driver only has to press a button, the rest of the train control is done by the computer (automatic driving control). This can be seen as a preliminary stage for driverless train operation.

Expansion and planning

Line scheme 2011

Two metro projects are currently being built in Bilbao. In 2013, the metro on line 2 will have its terminus with the name Kabiezes . The reason for the construction of the local line is also to invalidate the argument of parallel traffic with the RENFE's Cercanías line , with the high population density in the suburbs on the west bank of the Nervión and the high distance between stops on the suburban railway.

The second current metro project concerns both Line 1 and Line 2. Already in January 2005 an extension by one station to Etxebarri station was celebrated, which is now particularly important for the employees of the neighboring ArcelorMittal steelworks (formerly Aceralia ) . On November 11, 2011, the southern terminus Basauri was reached with the intermediate station Ariz . With these two projects, the Bilbao subway network will soon grow to a total of 44.5 kilometers with 41 stations. The contract for this extension was signed by the transport company and the local government at the beginning of 2007, and the costs total 58 million euros.

Furthermore, in February 2005 the operator or, on behalf of the transport consortium, announced further short-term plans. Among other things, a new station called Ibarbengoa is to be opened in the suburb of Maidagan between the Bidezabal and Berango stations due to the high distance between the stops . The construction costs are estimated at 17 million euros, the planned construction time is 24 months. Work on this is scheduled to begin in 2006, with completion scheduled for 2008.

A resumption of the former FEVE route to Sondika often appears in the plans. This route is already connected to the metro at Lutxana station , but not electrified.

Additional information

Wikimedia

Commons : Bilbao Metro - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

↑ Blickpunkt Tram , issue 2/2007, page 115

literature

Robert Schwandl: Metros in Spain - The Underground Railways of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao . Capital Transport, London 2001, ISBN 1-85414-242-9
WJ Hinkel, K.reiber, G. Valenta, H. Liebsch: yesterday-today-tomorrow - subways from 1863 to 2010 . Schmid-Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-900607-44-3 (chapter "Bilbao")