Antonia and Pedro love to walk. Retirees over 70 years old, residents of Glòries, invest their time in taking care of themselves and there are few things healthier than a walk to keep the body active. “Depending on the day, we walk to Palau Reial or to the Fòrum,” the man shares while pointing in both directions with his hands. The couple has just gotten off at Glòries station after . “We come to see if it’s going well for us to return home after walking,” says she, who has had surgery on both knees. “Sometimes when I walk my legs hurt and I need to return by public transportation.” And the extension of the T4 line is going great.
A few minutes pass after 11 in the morning and the new Tram convoy is very full. Not an empty seat. It’s opening day and the neighbors go in to test the transportation. The majority are elderly people who travel with a more curious than functional spirit. “”, understands Alberta, a resident of Mallorca Street, also retired, who has met a friend specifically to take the Tram. In 3’40” you arrive at the Sicilia stop; at 5’35” to Monumental (with connection to metro L2); and at 9’20” to Glòries (L1). The route connects with 13 urban bus lines.
The new service expands the tram network by two kilometers and increases the proximity of neighborhoods used to requiring the bus to be in contact. “The bus is comfortable and fast, but here there are few ways to get to the Francesc Macià or Urgell area,” notes Eneko, a master’s student. Only the blue metro line (L5) is deployed horizontally, although it does not reach all the areas adjacent to Diagonal. The rest of the lines in the area (L4, L3, or the FGC) are vertical and connect the city from sea to mountains.
Precisely, the majority perception is that the great success of the Tram will be to unite the Besòs and Llobregat sections at Francesc Macià. “I love the tram. It is very comfortable and quiet, but when it arrives at Francesc Macià it will be perfect,” Alberta insists. “I think we will use it much more if we can also go to Sant Just, for example, which is a very beautiful area.” The service began operating at five in the morning. of the tram led the institutions to postpone it for one day.
Today the tram between Glòries and Verdaguer was put into service! After the successful completion of the white marches, the public can count on faster and more connected public transport. There are 2 km of new tramway that connect the Eixample with several municipalities in the metropolitan area.
— Barcelona Mobility (@BCN_Mobilitat)
This first phase of connection has required an investment of 63 million euros, of which 48 million correspond to civil works and another 15 to the manufacture of three new trains to reinforce the service. According to data from the City Council, the new section between Glòries and Verdaguer will absorb an additional demand of 24,000 trips per day and will help eliminate about 2,000 vehicles per day from the central section of Diagonal.
The second phase of the connection with the Diagonal, which should allow the Trambesòs to be connected to the Trambaix, is in the process of drafting the infrastructure project and the tram facilities, which will include three future stops: Diagonal/Cinc d’Oros , Balmes and Casanova. This project has an estimated budget of around 170 million euros, not including redevelopment, a process for which Barcelona City Council has already drawn up a document that is in the technical validation phase. The duration of the works is expected to be three and a half years; but it requires political impetus.
In this sense, the new president of the municipal group of Barcelona en Comú, Janet Sanz, who replaces Ada Colau as leader of the commons in the City Council, has called this Sunday on the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, to “accelerate” the connection of Trambesòs and Trambaix. “Cry to heaven that it has not joined yet,” he said in a statement to journalists. “You could cross the city from end to end in 25 minutes,” he added.
While politics looks for solutions, Antonia and Pedro will continue walking up town, down town. “Living in Barcelona is a luxury. We don’t realize it, but it’s lucky.” They leave the station and go home.
