Barcelona Metro line 9



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.

Lines 9 and 10


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.

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, of which 43.71 km will be underground and 4.09 km will be on viaducts. L9/L10 will be the deepest line in the Barcelona network, with tunnels up to 80 m below the surface, and some stations with platforms up to 60 m below.

Line 9 shares its route with L10 for a large part. Its commercial speed is 37 km/h.

Construction
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.

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.

On 13 December 2009, 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 the El Prat branch opened from Aeroport T1 to Zona Universitària stations. This is a 20 km 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 m tunnel boring machine (TBM) – where other metros bore a pair of tunnels, one for each direction, 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. 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
 * Aeroport T1 (Barcelona International Airport)
 * Aeroport Terminal de Càrrega
 * Aeroport T2 (Barcelona International Airport, RENFE)
 * Mas Blau
 * Parc Nou
 * Cèntric
 * El Prat Estació (L1, RENFE)
 * La Ribera
 * Les Moreres
 * Mercabarna
 * Parc Logístic
 * Fira
 * Europa | Fira (L8)
 * Can Tries | Gornal
 * Torrassa (L1)
 * Collblanc (L5)
 * Camp Nou (T1, T2, T3 via Avinguda de Xile)
 * Zona Universitària (L3) (T1, T2, T3)
 * Campus Nord
 * Manuel Girona
 * Prat de la Riba
 * Sarrià (L6, L12)
 * Mandri
 * El Putxet (L7)
 * Lesseps (L3)
 * Muntanya
 * Sanllehy
 * Guinardó | Hospital de Sant Pau (L4)
 * Plaça de Maragall
 * La Sagrera (L1, L4, L5 RENFE)
 * Sagrera | TAV (L4, RENFE-AVE)
 * Onze de Setembre
 * Bon Pastor
 * Can Peixauet
 * Santa Rosa
 * Fondo (L1)
 * Església Major
 * Singuerlín
 * Can Zam

Extra cost
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.