How to go from Barcelona to Vilanova i a Geltrú or Sant Pol de Mar… by metro. The longest suburban line in the city is about to become a reality, and it will be 50 kilometers long and will run through the city’s underground, literally from end to end.
This is the L9, which has begun its countdown to finish works that will make it in 2027, by far the longest subway line in the city, with about 50 kilometers that double the 19.6 kilometers of the L5 (blue line), currently the longest line in Barcelona.
A line that will stop at La Sagrera, the future great station of Catalonia, which will unify metro, buses and high-speed trains on 3 different levels and will have up to 3 metro stops and 4 Rodalies stops.
50 kilometers, 50 stops
The 9/L10 will transform metropolitan mobility, since it will connect five municipalities – among the most populated in Catalonia: Barcelona, Santa Coloma de Gramanet, Badalona, Hospitalet de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat.
In addition, the new line will cover a historical need of the city, connecting it by metro through its upper area, passing through neighborhoods such as Sarrià, Gràcia or Guinardó without having to go down to the center and make other transfers.
It will have 47.8 km of tunnel, some fifty stations, 17 interchanges and, once completed, is expected to record more than 100 million trips per year.
The new line will meet a historic need of the city, to connect it by public transport through its area, the area of
The construction of the L9/L10 develops a pioneering design solution: the construction of superimposed tracks on which trains run and platforms integrated in the same tunnel. This line will also have automatic driving, a pioneering action in Spain at the time.
A line ready in 2024… but functional in 2027
Currently,the L9/L10 metro system has 37.5 kilometers of line and 35 stations in service on the southern and northern sections of the line. The connection through the city center, the most complicated part, is now pending. The line is expected to be fully operational by 2027 or early 2028.
The City Council explains that the combination of the design with overlapping tracks and the construction of stations by means of vertical circular shafts, which allows them to be built independently of the tunnel, makes it possible to reduce the impact on the surface during the works compared to conventional solutions.
The works will cause various traffic disruptions in the capital this year. One of them is the two-way traffic cut on Mandri street, between Paseo de la Bonanova and Bigai street. This will affect cars and motorcycles, but will also alter the route of bus lines 70, V11 and V13.