Málaga Metro

The Málaga Metro (Metro de Málaga) is a semi-metro network in Málaga, Spain. Two lines link the city centre with the northwestern and southwestern suburbs, with a total length of 13.2 km and 19 stations, of which 12 are underground and 5 are surface-level light rail stops.

History
The metro was proposed during the 1990s to ease the crippling congestion when the Ministry of Public Works and Transport commissioned a study in 2001 into the feasibility of constructing a metro system in the city. The plan had four lines, radiating from the city centre, with stations roughly 500 m apart to allow a high level of accessibility, with funding for the project coming from both the local and the Spanish governments. The system was originally scheduled to open on 31 October 2013. The two lines finally opened in service on 30 July 2014, as a limited service terminating at El Perchel station, adjacent to Málaga María Zambrano railway station.

In March 2023, the metro was extended from its former city terminus at El Perchel station by 1.7 km into the historic centre of the city, which resulted in the increase of the metro's previous patronage from 28,000 daily users to 41,000 on the first operating day of the extension.

Lines
Here are the most important features of the two lines:

Route
Both lines run underground in the city centre. Line 1 goes from there to the University of Málaga. Between Universidad station and the Andalucía Tech terminus, it runs on the surface, which includes some at-grade intersections.

Line 2 runs entirely underground, from the city centre to the Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena.

An extension of Line 1 from El Perchel further into the city centre with two underground stops, Guadalmedina and Atarazanas, opened on 27 March 2023. By extending the metro closer to the city centre, patronage is expected to reach 18 million annually.

Future
Line 2 will share El Perchel and Guadalmedina stations with Line 1, then was originally to emerge above ground and continue with four surface-level stops to Hospital Civil. The completion date for this extension is currently unknown, and this extension is predicted to increase overall annual patronage of the metro to 20.5 million. In 2019, the scope of the project was amended to a fully underground alignment from Guadalmedina to Hospital Civil.

Rolling stock
All trams are Urbos 3, manufactured by the Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles. They are fully covered by CCTV and are throughout air-conditioned in an effort to provide security and comfort to a full capacity tramcar of 56 seated passengers with 170 standing. The capacity figure is accurate for likely peak-time usage, but the trains are also fully accessible to disabled passengers, who may slightly decrease capacity.

The trams are already in successful widespread use in other cities, including 30 on trams in Belgrade, with 40 are also planned for the Cuiabá system, in Brazil.