Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain.
Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) is a high-speed rail service operated by Renfe, the Spanish State railway company.
The Barcelona Metro is a network of rapid transit electrified railway lines that run mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport system of Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, Spain, with unified fares under the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM) scheme. As of 2014, the network is operated by two separate companies: Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC). It is made up of 12 lines, combining the lines owned by the two companies. Two lines, L9 and L10, are being built at present, with both lines having different sections of each opened between 2009 and 2018. They are due to be fully completed in 2026. Three lines on the network have opened as automatic train operation/driverless vehicle systems since 2009: Line 11 being converted to driverless first, and then Lines 9 and 10, opening up driverless.
High-speed railways in Spain are in operation since 1992 when the first line was opened connecting the cities of Madrid, Córdoba and Seville. Unlike the rest of the Iberian broad gauge network, the Spanish High-speed network mainly uses standard gauge. This permits direct connections to outside Spain through the link to the French network at the Perthus Tunnel. High-speed trains run on a network of high-speed rail track owned and managed by ADIF, where the dominant service is AVE while other high speed services such as Avant, Alvia, Avlo, Euromed, Ouigo España and Iryo, as well as mid-speed (Altaria) services also operate.
Line 8, coloured pink and operated by FGC, is part of the Barcelona Metro network, and therefore of the larger ATM fare-integrated transport system. It joins Plaça Espanya, in the Sants-Montjuïc district of Barcelona with metropolitan area municipalities of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Cornellà de Llobregat and Sant Boi de Llobregat.
Plaça d'Espanya, also simply known as Espanya, is an interchange complex underneath Plaça d'Espanya, in the Barcelona district of Sants-Montjuïc, in Catalonia, Spain. It comprises the Barcelona terminus of the Llobregat–Anoia Line and a Barcelona Metro station complex served by lines 1 (L1) and 3 (L3). On the L1, the station is between Hostafrancs and Rocafort, and on the L3 it is between Poble Sec and Tarragona. The Llobregat–Anoia Line station is served by Barcelona Metro line 8 (L8), Baix Llobregat Metro lines S33, S4 and S8, and commuter rail lines R5, R6, R50 and R60. The services on the Llobregat–Anoia Line are operated by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC), whilst the L1 and L3 are operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB).
Plaça de Catalunya station, also known as Barcelona-Plaça Catalunya, Plaça Catalunya or simply Catalunya is a major station complex in Barcelona located under Plaça de Catalunya, the city's central square and a large transport hub. Many Rodalies de Catalunya, Barcelona Metro and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya lines go through it and many bus routes link it with all of the districts of the city and most of the municipalities in its metropolitan area.
Barcelona Sants is the main railway station in Barcelona, owned by Adif, the railway infrastructure agency of Spain. It has become the most important transport hub of the city - being the centre of Rodalies de Catalunya including Barcelona suburban railway services and regional services, as well as the main inter-city station for national and international destinations. The station is named after Sants, the neighbourhood of Barcelona in which it is located. New parts of the station have recently been remodeled to accommodate the Spanish high-speed train AVE in the city, which started serving the city on 20 February 2008. There is also an adjacent international bus station bearing the same name, and a link to the Sants Estació metro station that serves the railway station.
Euromed is a high-speed rail service operated by Renfe along the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
The R1 is a line of Rodalies de Catalunya's Barcelona commuter rail service, operated by Renfe Operadora. It runs northwards from the Barcelona area to the southern limits of the province of Girona, passing through the coastal Maresme region. Since 2014, some services have been extended further north towards Portbou, near the French border. These services are designated RG1 and are considered part of the Girona commuter rail service. The line had an annual ridership of 28 million in 2016, achieving an average weekday ridership of 102,214 according to 2008 data.
Alvia is a high-speed train service in Spain offered by Renfe Operadora on long-distance routes with a top speed of 250 km/h (160 mph). The trains have the ability to use both Iberian gauge and standard gauge, which allows them to travel on the recently constructed high-speed lines for part of the journey before switching to the "classic" Iberian gauge network to complete it. Trains that run exclusively on high-speed tracks are branded AVE or Avant.
Public transport in Barcelona is operated by several companies, most of which are part of the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità, a transport authority managing services in the Barcelonès and the rest of the metropolitan area of Barcelona. This article is a summary with transport facilities and services strictly within the municipality of Barcelona, and contains links to more specific articles.
Rodalies de Catalunya is the main commuter and regional rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is administered by the Government of Catalonia and operated by the national rail operator Renfe Operadora. The system consists of 17 service lines chiefly centred in the Barcelona area, serving a total of 203 stations throughout Catalonia, with an average number of 1,000 trains running on it every day. In 2016, it had an annual ridership of 117 million.
El tren Estrella was a conventional overnight railway service provided in Spain by the national rail network operator RENFE until April 2015. Services left most major Spanish cities in the evening and usually arrived at their destination the following morning.
The Barcelona–Cerbère railway is a 168-kilometre (104.39 mi) railway line linking Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain to Cerbère in France. It is served by the Rodalies de Catalunya commuter network, Renfe regional, MD, AVE, Avlo and Avant train services, and TGV trains. The line stars at Barcelona Sants railway station, and passes through the Catalan regional cities of Girona and Figueres before reaching the French border, and then Cerbère, just across the border. It is an important commuter and High Speed line, connecting Paris, Montpellier and Perpinyà to Spain.
The R11 is a line of Rodalies de Catalunya's regional rail service, operated by Renfe Operadora. It runs northwards from the Barcelona area to the French border town of Cerbère, passing through the Vallès Oriental, Selva, Gironès and Alt Empordà regions. With a total line length of 172 kilometres (107 mi), it extends notably beyond the limits of the Barcelona metropolitan area, reaching the Pyrenees mountains.
The R16 is a line of Rodalies de Catalunya's regional rail service, operated by Renfe Operadora. It runs southwards from the Barcelona area to the town of Tortosa, passing through the Vallès Occidental, Baix Llobregat, Garraf, Baix Penedès, Camp de Tarragona, Baix Ebre and Montsià regions. With a total line length of 172 kilometres (107 mi), it extends notably beyond the limits of the Barcelona metropolitan area, along the Mediterranean coast.
The R17 is a line of Rodalies de Catalunya's regional rail service, operated by Renfe Operadora. It runs southwards from the Barcelona area to Port Aventura, near the seaside resort of Salou, passing through the Vallès Occidental, Baix Llobregat, Garraf, Baix Penedès, Camp de Tarragona, Baix Ebre and Montsià regions. R17 trains run primarily on the Valencia−Sant Vicenç de Calders and Madrid–Barcelona railway, using Port Aventura as their southernmost terminus, and Barcelona Estació de França as its northern one. They use the Aragó Tunnel in Barcelona, where they share tracks with Rodalies de Catalunya's Barcelona suburban lines R2, R2 Nord and R2 Sud and regional rail lines R11, R13, R14, R15 and R16, calling at Sants and Passeig de Gràcia stations, while they continue to share tracks with Barcelona commuter rail service R2 Sud as far as Sant Vicenç de Calders, and with the Tarragona commuter rail service RT2 from Sant Vicenç de Calders to Port Aventura.
