Barcelona tram

Network map

There are two regular-gauge tram networks in Barcelona that are not yet connected: Trambaix and Trambesòs . A connection along the Avinguda Diagonal (Glòries - Plaça Francesc Macià) is already planned and planned. The lines are named after the final destinations of the routes, Trambaix after the comarca Baix Llobregat , Trambesòs after Sant Adrià de Besòs . Are used low-floor articulated cars of the type Alstom Citadis . In both subnetworks, only bidirectional cars are used, so there are no turning loops , the trains turn by changing the direction of travel. The operator of both tram networks is Tramvia Metropolità SA ( tram for short ) a Catalan-French consortium of companies led by Alstom .

There is also a short tourist line, the Tramvia Blau .

Trambaix

Trambaix is a regular-gauge tram network that connects Barcelona with the western suburbs in the Comarca Baix Llobregat . It opened on April 5, 2004 and consists of three different lines (T1, T2 and T3).

Line T3 at the Zona Universitària

The network is a total of 14 km long. Their common eastern end point is at Plaça Francesc Macià. There is an island platform with two end tracks and an adjoining switch trapezoid. The three lines initially use a common section along Avinguda Diagonal and through L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to Esplugues de Llobregat , where the route branches off. The suburbs of Cornellà de Llobregat , Sant Joan Despí and Sant Just Desvern are then served. The bus stop at Cornellà train station is in a short tunnel under the railway tracks. The route of lines T1 and T2 forms a large turning loop in Cornellà de Llobregat and Sant Joan Despí, which contains ten stops. However, it is not completely driven through, the trains turn around within this bypass and return to the starting point on the same route. The arch at the confluence between the end point Llevant-Les Planes and Avinguda del Baix Llobregat is an operational route. The depot of the sub-network is located within this loop on Carrer de Sant Joan Despí.

The lines are mostly double-track, single-track with crossing stations are the sections Bon Viatge-Llevant-Les Planes on the T2 line and Montesa-Rambla de Sant Just on the T3 train.

Line T1

Francesc Macià - L'Illa - Numància - Maria Cristina ( metro line L3 ) - Pius XII - Palau Reial (metro line L3) - Zona Universitària - Avinguda de Xile - Sant Ramon - Can Rigal - Ca n'Oliveres - Can Clota - Pont d ' Esplugues - La Sardana - Montesa - El Pedró - Ignasi Iglésias - Cornellà Center ( metro line L5 ) - Les Aigües - Fontsanta i Fatjó - Bon Viatge

Line T2

Francesc Macià - L'Illa - Numància - Maria Cristina (metro line L3) - Pius XII - Palau Reial (metro line L3) - Zona Universitària - Avinguda de Xile - Sant Ramon - Can Rigal - Ca n'Oliveres - Can Clota - Pont d ' Esplugues - La Sardana - Montesa - El Pedró - Ignasi Iglésias - Cornellà Center (metro line L5) - Les Aigües - Fontsanta i Fatjó - Bon Viatge - La Fontsanta - Center Miquel Martí i Pol - Llevant-Les Planes

Line T3

Francesc Macià - L'Illa - Numància - Maria Cristina (metro line L3) - Pius XII - Palau Reial (metro line L3) - Zona Universitària - Avinguda de Xile - Sant Ramon - Can Rigal - Ca n'Oliveres - Can Clota - Pont d ' Esplugues - La Sardana - Montesa - Sant Martí de l'Erm - Rambla de Sant Just - Walden - Torreblanca - Sant Feliu | Consell Camarcal

Trambesòs

Trambesòs is the regular-gauge tram network in the east of Barcelona. The city-side end point Ciutadella-Vila Olímpica is located on Carrer de Wellington at the confluence with Paseo de Circunvalación. The end section is only served by line T4, lines T5 and 6 turn at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes .

Line T4 was opened on May 8, 2004, initially between Glòries and Estació de Sant Adrià . On July 14, 2004, this line was extended from Glòries to Ciutadella . The operation consists of the 8 km long line T4, which connects Barcelona with the eastern suburb of Sant Adrià de Besòs ; the 7 km long T5 line, which leads from the Glòries metro station to Badalona (Gorg) , and the T6 line, which only serves the same route from Glóries as the T5 line, branches off to the east after the Parc del Besòs stop and just like the Line T4 ends in Santa Adrià de Besós.

Line T4

Ciutadella Vila Olímpica ( metro line L4 ) - Wellington - Marina ( metro line L1 ) - Auditori Teatre Nacional - Glòries (metro line L1) - Ca l'Aranyó - Pere IV - Fluvià - Selva de Mar (metro line L4) - El Maresme - Fòrum - Can Llima - Central Tèrmica del Besòs - Estació de Sant Adrià (Rodalies line R1)

Line T5

Glòries (metro line L1) - La Farinera - Can Jaumandreu - Espronceda - Sant Martí de Provençals - Besòs (metro line L4) - Alfons el Magnànim (metro line L4) - Parc del Besòs - La Catalana - Sant Joan Baptista - Encants de Sant Andrià - Sant Roc ( metro line L2 ) - Gorg (metro line L2)

Line T6

Glòries (metro line L1) - La Farinera - Can Jaumandreu - Espronceda - Sant Martí de Provençals - Besòs (metro line L4) - Alfons el Magnànim (metro line L4) - Parc del Besòs - La Mina - Central Tèrmica del Besòs - Estació de Sant Adrià ( RENFE)

Tramvia blue

Tramvia blue carriage 7

The Tramvia Blau ( Catalan for “blue tram”) is a regular-gauge tourist tram that connects the terminus of the L7 metro line (“Avinguda Tibidabo”) at Plaça Kennedy with the valley station of the funicular to Tibidabo , Barcelona's local mountain . It was built on October 29, 1901 together with the funicular (Funicular de Tibidabo) as a feeder to the amusement park on the Tibidabo and still operates today with the blue painted original vehicles from the opening year. The maximum speed of the old cars is 13 km / h uphill and 9.5 km / h downhill, the cars can hold a maximum of 24 passengers. The route, which is just under 1.3 km long, leads through an elegant residential area and overcomes almost 90 meters in altitude.

The railway was originally privately owned and, like the funicular, belonged to the amusement park on the Tibidabo. In 1989 the railway was taken over by the municipal transport company TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona) , which also operates the city bus routes and some of the metro lines.

The Tramvia Blau is now a pure tourist line. It usually only runs on weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Only during the main holiday season, in Easter week and from the end of June to mid-September, there is also service during the week, in summer until 8 p.m. Normal tickets of the transport association ("sistema tarifari integrat / sistema tarifario integrado") are not valid, special tickets must be purchased from the conductor. There are parallel bus routes for normal traffic.

At the political level, consideration is being given to supplementing the Tramvia Blau and the subsequent funicular with a more efficient, continuous rack railway line from Plaça Kennedy to Tibidabo.

History of the tram in Barcelona

First network 1872–1971

On June 27, 1872, the first horse-drawn tram opened in Barcelona. On March 1, 1877, the first steam tram went into operation with the line to Sant Andreu de Palomar . Since the mutually competing private tram companies did not use a uniform gauge, a mixed network of regular and meter-gauge routes was created.

At the end of 1899 the first line was switched to electrical operation. All lines were electrified by 1907. In 1911 most companies (with the exception of Tramvia Blau and FC. De Sarrià a Barcelona) merged to form Tramways de Barcelona (from 1925 Tranvías de Barcelona (TB) ). From 1922 onwards there was competition for the tram from the first bus line , and in 1924 the first metro line went into operation. On June 7, 1926, the famous architect Antoni Gaudí was hit by a tram on line 30 on Gran Via and died three days later of serious injuries.

In the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the tram was badly affected, in particular the bombing of the city in 1938 caused severe damage to vehicles and infrastructure. Overcoming the consequences of the war lasted well into the 1950s; several lines through narrow streets in the city center were not repaired, but replaced by bus routes.

In 1957 the city took over what had been a private tram company. In the 1960s, Barcelona consistently expanded the metro and gradually replaced the tram with it and with bus lines. In 1965 the last meter gauge line was closed. On March 18, 1971, the last two tram lines 49 and 51 were shut down. Only the short, private Tramvia Blau remained as a tourist attraction.

Second network from 2004

Under the impression of the successful reintroduction of tram systems in France from the mid-1980s, it was also noticed in Barcelona that the complete abolition of the tram had created a gap in local transport that could not be fully closed by the metro and bus.

From 1987 feasibility studies on modern light rail vehicles ("metro lleuger") were carried out in the Barcelona area. In 1989 the municipal transport company TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona), which now operates the city buses and some of the metro lines, proposed the construction of a modern tram along the wide Avinguda Diagonal. In the political discussion in the early 1990s, the plan for a tram from Avinguda Diagonal to the western suburbs of Baix Llobregat emerged.

In 1997, a 650 m long, single-track test route was built on the median of Avinguda Diagonal, on which test drives were carried out with a borrowed tram from Grenoble ( Alstom ) and a Siemens Combino , which were satisfactory.

After completing the detailed planning, it was decided to build the Trambaix and Trambesòs. The Catalan-French company consortium Tramvia Metropolità SA (Tram), led by Alstom, won the tenders for the construction and the 25-year operation of both networks. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Trambaix took place on June 22, 2001, and construction work for the Trambesòs began on January 10, 2003. Both systems opened in 2004.

Web links

Commons : Trams in Barcelona - Collection of images, videos and audio files