In April 2002 the Metropolitan Transport Authority finally approved the Infrastructures Master Plan (IMP), which envisaged investing EUR 7,296M in public transport in the metropolitan region of Barcelona. This Plan constitutes a consensus reply from the authorities responsible for transport to the needs of public transport infrastructures and represents a planning instrument for the railway transport network.

The Master Plan set as its principal aims the strengthening of public transport in the metropolitan area, an increase in the number of journeys and the adaptation of the mode of transport to the forecast volume of demand in order to guarantee greater effectiveness of public investment. The IMP is a plan for infrastructures that are fundamentally for rail transport, although it also contemplates actions linked to road passenger transport, such as bus stations or the introduction of the Park & Ride system. Another feature of the IMP is its integral character in the sense that it considers the whole of the existing and planned future rail networks in the metropolitan region of Barcelona, independently of their owner or operator (Metro, FGC, RENFE, the new tramways and the light Metro). This, then, is an integrating Plan insofar as it strengthens the physical integration of the different public transport networks and their connection with private vehicles through the creation or improvement of exchange points. At territorial level the IMP, while establishing the same criteria in proposing public transport for the flows of mobility in the whole area of the BMR, designs the appropriate answers to a diverse territorial reality. Thus it makes specific proposals tailored to the needs of the demand in each area, characterised by uneven residential density and activity.

To achieve these ends, the actions envisaged are based on four large action programmes:

• Extension of the network

• Improvement and modernisation of the existing network

• Construction of junctions and exchange points between different means of transport

• Actions on the State railway network

The new Infrastructures Master Plan will represent the creation of a total of 162 km of new rail network (trains, Metro and trams) and the improvement of 121 km of existing track, 235 new units of rolling stock (trains and trams) and 235 new stations or stops, which will provide for a daily demand of 810,000 journeys, double today’s figure.

Summary table

The programme of extension of the network comprises the actions of extending the current rail network of both the Metro (FMB) and the Generalitat Railway lines (FGC) and the construction of two new lines which will contribute to the structure of the network: L9 and L12. This programme also includes new modes of transport, such as the tramway and the light Metro.

With regard to extending the Metro network, the aim is to make this high capacity system reach areas of high where the service is not available at present. In accordance with this, the proposal is to extend line 1 as far as El Prat and Badalona; line 2 to the centre of Badalona and the Zona Franca; line 3 as far as the districts of Roquetes, Canyelles and Trinitat Nova; line 4 to Sagrera-TAV and line 5 between Horta and the Vall d’Hebron. With regard to the FGC network, it is proposed to extend the Metro from Vallès to Sabadell and Terrassa. Also included is the extension of the Llobregat-Anoia line to Barcelona city centre, which will allow it to link up with the Vallès metro and will bring a very notable improvement in the connection and accessibility of these lines.

The new line 9 is the most significant project of the IMP, both for the volume of investment and for the scale of the works and their structural effect. This line will be the longest in Europe and will involve the largest investment ever made by the Government of the Generalitat. The total investment is around EUR 2,248M, of which EUR 1,948M relate to infrastructures and installations and EUR 300M to rolling stock. The new line will have a perimeter route and will reinforce the network with a run of 43 km, with a common trunk and two branches at each end. It will serve a total of 46 stations, 16 of which will be junction points with other modes of transport, the TMB and FGC lines and the Renfe suburban services. In this way public transport needs will be covered in high density areas now suffering deficiencies of service, as is the case of the districts of Badalona and Santa Coloma, the upper part of Barcelona (districts of Sarrià and Pedralbes), Hospitalet de Llobregat, the Zona Franca, El Prat de Llobregat and the airport. The forecast demand is reckoned at some 90 million passengers a year.

Another significant project in the extension programme is line 12 (Castelldefels-Sant Boi-Sarrià). This new action will connect the upper part of Barcelona (Sarrià FGC station and the future L9) with the municipalities on the right bank of the Llobregat (Sant Joan Despí, Sant Just Desvern, Esplugues de Llobregat) and with the municipalities fronting the Llobregat Delta between Castelldefels and Sant Boi.

Within the proposals for extensions of the network, the IMP assigns the most efficient mode of transport according to the forecast flow of demand, proposing new modes of transport which will enable these needs to be met. For this reason, the Plan proposes the introduction of new transport means such as the light Metro or the new tramways to answer the need in the corridors of intermediate demand. In this context there is also the cable car between the FGC station at Olesa de Montserrat and Esparraguera which, as well as promoting mobility between these two towns, will also facilitate the connection of Esparreguera with Barcelona by train and extend the benefits of the Baix Llobregat Metro in this area.

Work is already in progress on the new light Metro line (L11) which will link the districts of Trinitat Nova (Metro line 4 and future line 3) and Can Cuiàs. This type of transport, consisting of a train with two or three carriages, with its own infrastructure and normally running in a tunnel, will meet the level of demand for transport in the northern districts of the Nou Barris area, where the topography is difficult and accessibility reduced.

The reintroduction of the tram, a mode of transport with a partially separated concept, of intermediate capacity and with a notable structuring effect, is another feature of the IMP. The Baix Llobregat-Diagonal tramway is currently under construction and work has begun on the Sant Martí-Besòs tramway, which will connect Barcelona (Estació del Nord, Ciutadella and Vila Olímpica) with Sant Adrià del Besòs and Badalona, passing through the new Diagonal, the renovated Gran Via, Poble Nou and the area of the Forum de les Cultures.

The programme of improvement and modernisation of the network in the IMP includes infrastructure actions such as doubling lines to improve the passing intervals and actions for the improvement of the comfort and quality of the service, as is the case of the construction of new stations or their adaptation for passengers with reduced mobility. In this context the final stretch of the L-4 between La Pau-Pep Ventura on L-2 is being converted, with the aimed of linking the centre of Badalona directly with that of Barcelona. Among the new stations, there is the important new station on the L-4, “Maresme-Forum”, currently under construction, forming an intermediate stop between the existing stations of Selva de Mar and Besòs Mar, so as to give service to the area of the Carrer Maresme and the Forum 2004.

The IMP also contemplates strengthening a network of exchange points and junction points between the railways and buses, promoting the integration of the different networks of public transport as well as the connection with private transport by the possible introduction of Park & Ride facilities. In effect, the redistribution of the population and the activity within the BMR has taken the form of a strong increase in inter-municipal travel and an increase in the length of journeys. For this reason it is proposed to establish a network of exchange points which will facilitate channelling this flow of mobility to public transport, improving general accessibility in the BMR. In this context exchange points are envisaged both in the city centre (Plaça Catalunya, Passeig de Gràcia, Sants, Sagrera…) and in the nearby municipalities and principal accesses (Torrassa, Quatre camins, Martorell, line Papiol-Mollet…)

With respect to proposals concerned with the State railway network, the intention is to promote a reorganisation of the Renfe suburban services in order to take advantage of the introduction of the High Speed Train. As well as greater benefit and rationalisation of the suburban network the aim is to achieve a better integration with the other means of transport and an extension of capacity and territorial cover of the railway network.

Finally, the IMP includes a series of viability studies to be developed in order to be taken into account in the five-year review of the Plan or when its term of validity is completed. In this group of projects the following are notable:

• Study of the whole of the orbital railway line Mataro-Granollers, Granollers-Sabadell, Terrassa-Martorell and Vilafranca-Vilanova, to enable these principal towns of the second metropolitan ring to be linked up.

• New lines to the Vallès to the Tibidabo-UAB axis (FGC) and Montcada-Sabadell (RENFE).

• Doubling the Garriga-Vic line (RENFE).

• Study of the capacity of the Castelldefels-El Prat section (3rd and 4th track) (RENFE).

• Study of shifting the Maresme line further inland and the Badalona spur (or permeability of the existing line) (RENFE).

• Exchange point at Glòries (Barcelona)

• Light Metro Can Cuiàs-Ripollet, Badalona centre-Can Ruti and the Camí del Mig (Maresme);

• extension of the tramway network to Sant Feliu-Quatre Camins, Cornellà Centre-Almeda, Cerdanyola-Sant Cugat;

It must be said that most of the actions contemplated in the IMP are already in progress. In fact, some of them have already come into service, such as the conversion of line 4 into line 2 in the La Pau-Pep Ventura stretch, while many others are under construction, as is the case of the new line 9, the extension of L-5 between Horta and the Vall d’Hebron, the light Metro from Nou Barris (L11), the tramway from Baix Llobregat and the Besòs tramway. Also under construction are other actions of modernisation and improvement and the construction of new exchange points.

In short, the projects contained in the IMP will enable the configuration of a railway network (metro, railway, tramways, light Metro…) in the next 10 years which will meet the public demand for improvement in connections and territorial cover of the whole of the metropolitan region of Barcelona, which will significantly increase the participation of transport as against the private vehicle.