Barcelona’s metro L9 South became operational on February 12. This new stretch of L9 is nearly 20 km long. It represents a 20% growth in kilometres for the city’s network, which now also reaches the 25% mark in automated lines.

L9 South features 15 stations, all accessible to the disabled, and connects Zona Universitària to Terminal 1 of Barcelona-El Prat Airport in 32 minutes with a train frequency rate of 7 minutes on weekdays. TMB expects to cut that frequency to less than 4 minutes for partial itineraries during peak demand by adding the necessary trains.

The new metro line connects Barcelona’s southern metropolitan area (industrial parks, universities, Gran Vía trade fair grounds and two airport terminals) and its citizens to the city’s modern rail network for daily commute.

The launch of the L9 South implies that 30.5 km of the metro network will now work with the highest grade of automation (GoA4), where starting and stopping, operation of doors and handling of emergencies are fully automated without any on-train staff. The line also has an advanced passenger information system automatically connected to trains.

Stations are equipped with platform screen doors.

The demand for this new metro stretch is estimated to be 23 million annual trips. The Catalan government, developer and owner of the infrastructure, invested €2,900 million.

Source: TMB press release