Barcelona Metro line 9

Map of line 9 (L9, L10 & L2)

Line 9 (Línia 9 in Catalan) is a completely automated line of the Barcelona Metro network that is currently under construction, with 24 stations open in Barcelona and El Prat de Llobregat, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet suburbs, since December 2009. The line is currently disconnected in two branches, with a connecting part between the two yet to be built. The Aeroport T1 – Zona Universitària section is called L9 South (L9 Sud in Catalan), and the La Sagrera – Can Zam portion L9 North (L9 Nord in Catalan). Upon completion, it will be the longest underground metro line in Europe.[1]

Lines 9 and 10

Station of L9
Barcelona Metro Lines 9 and 10
Legend
 Aeroport T1
S end
 Airport Cargo Terminal
Aeroport T2
Mas Blau
depot
Parc Nou
end
 Pratenc
Cèntric
former bed of the Llobregat
El Prat Estació
end
 ZAL – Riu Vell
La Ribera
Ecoparc
Les Moreres
Port Comercial│La Factoria
Llobregat River
Zona Franca
Mercabarna
viaduct start 
Parc Logístic
Motors
common section
  Foc
Fira
to INEFC
Foneria
Ildefons Cerdà
(Ciutat de la Justícia)
Europa-Fira
Provençana
Can Tries-Gornal
Torrassa
Collblanc
S end
 Camp Nou
Zona Universitària
S end
 Campus Nord
Manuel Girona
Prat de la Riba
Sarrià
Mandri
El Putxet
Lesseps
Muntanya
Sanllehy
Guinardó-Hospital de Sant Pau
Plaça de Maragall
La Sagrera
N end
Sagrera-TAV
connection to Line 2 & Line 4
Triangle ferroviari depot
 Onze de Setembre
Bon Pastor
Besòs River
Besòs junction
Llefià
Can Peixauet
la Salut
Santa Rosa
end
Gorg
Fondo
Església Major
Singuerlín
Can Zam
N end
Can Zam depot
Key
 S Aeroport T1 - Zona Universitària
N La Sagrera - Can Zam
La Sagrera - Gorg
Stations under construction in italics

The complete project encompasses an underground line with two branches spanning a large portion of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, crossing Barcelona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Badalona, l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat. Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona is the company operating the line.[2]

The name line 9 (L9) can refer either to the whole project of L9/L10 or to the common trunk plus the L9 branches. The total system will have a length of 47.8 km (29.7 mi), of which 43.71 km (27.16 mi) will be underground and 4.09 km (2.54 mi) will be on viaducts.[3] L9/L10 will be the deepest line in the Barcelona network, with tunnels up to 80 metres (262 ft 6 in) below the surface, and some stations with platforms up to 60 metres (196 ft 10 in) below.[4]

Line 9 shares its route with L10 for a large part. Its commercial speed is 37 kilometres per hour (23 mph).[5]

Construction

Train arriving at Airport T1 station.
Elevators offering access to platforms from the lobby at Fondo station.
Llefià station.

Autoritat del Transport Metropolità approved the plan for metro and light rail lines in the Barcelona metropolitan area that included line 9 in 1999. The next year ATM began planning and design with construction starting in 2002.[6][7]

Originally expected to be ready by 2008, ongoing problems with its construction delayed its expected completion until as late as 2013–2014. It was subsequently further delayed to 2016.[8]

On 13 December 2009,[9] the section between Can Peixauet and Can Zam, with the exception of Santa Rosa station, opened to the public. A further station, Bon Pastor, opened on 18 April 2010; as the first section of L10 was opened. The section from La Sagrera to Bon Pastor (except Sagrera | TAV station) opened on 26 June 2010.

On February 12, 2016[10] the El Prat branch opened from Aeroport T1 to Zona Universitària stations. This is a 20 km (12.4 mi) section with 15 stations, however three stations – Aeroport Terminal de Càrrega, La Ribera and Camp Nou – did not open, as they were built to serve future developments or for technical reasons.

Line 9 is being bored by a single 11.95 metres (39 ft 2 in) tunnel boring machine (TBM) – where other metros bore a pair of tunnels, one for each direction,[11] Line 9's wider tunnel is broad enough to stack two lines of tracks and for the route's stations.

Because the route passes through different geological conditions, the TBM is designed to replace the cutterheads with heads suited for the current conditions.[11] In June 2010 the TBM's hard rock cutterhead was replaced with its original cutterhead, designed to bore through clay.

List of stations

(Stations under construction in italics)

El Prat area
Provisional L9S Start

Central branch, shared with L10

Provisional L9S End

Provisional L9N Start

Besòs area

Provisional L9N End

Extra cost

Accessing either of the airport stations requires a valid ticket, as announced on the ticket vending machines and inside the trains. An Airport Ticket is available for 5.15 euros.

Entering or exiting the metro line from the airport stations in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 requires a valid ticket. A Single Ticket (Bitllet Senzill), a T-casual (formerly T-10), or a T-familiar are not considered valid, and will not allow exiting the line through these stations. An Airport Ticket at a charge of 5.15 euros can be purchased before exiting the metro. All time-based tickets with unlimited journeys (daily, monthly, quarterly or Hola BCN! tickets) are considered valid, and passengers travelling with them do not need to purchase any additional tickets to access these stations.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Què és la L9?" [What is the L9 / L10?]. L9 (in Catalan). Generalitat de Catalunya. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  2. ^ Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2006). Anuari territorial de Catalunya 2005 (in Catalan). Barcelona: Societat Catalana d'Ordenació del Territori. ISBN 84-7283-881-1.
  3. ^ "Què és l'L9?" (in Catalan). www.gencat.cat. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010..
  4. ^ Truini, William (30 December 2009). "The Big Dig: Barcelona's Metro Line 9". Barcelona Metropolitan.
  5. ^ "Metro, subway, underground Metro line 9 to Barcelona Airport". www.aeropuertobarcelona-elprat.com. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Barcelona Metro Line 9". Sener. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Barcelona Metro Line 9". Railway Technology. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  8. ^ Puente, Fernando (12 June 2014). "Barcelona Metro Airport Link Set for 2016 Launch". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  9. ^ Placer, David (5 December 2009). "La L-9 arribarà el 13 de desembre a cinc estacions de Santa Coloma". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Catalan).
  10. ^ "El metro hacia El Prat comenzará a funcionar el día 12 de febrero" [The metro to el Prat will start service on 12 February] (Press release) (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Second cutterhead change for Barcelona TBM". Tunnel talk. June 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2016. The 11.95m diameter machine has been working on the Metro's Line 9 project for the UTE LINIA 9 consortium of the Spanish and Catalan companies FCC / FERROVIAL / OHL / COPSICA / COPISA since 2003.
  12. ^ "From the airport by metro". Visit Barcelona. Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona. Retrieved 11 March 2023.

External links

Media related to Barcelona Metro line 9 at Wikimedia Commons

41°24′24.18″N 2°8′56.50″E / 41.4067167°N 2.1490278°E / 41.4067167; 2.1490278