The Public Transport Promotion Association (PTP) maintains that the H12 bus line (Gornal-Besòs/Verneda) may be “short of capacity in the not too distant future” even when transformed into a BRT (Bus Rapid Trànsit), as announced Barcelona Metropolitan Transport (TMB).
The company announced on Wednesday that it will begin to deploy a series of technological innovations in 2023 that will allow line H12 (Gornal-Besòs/Verneda) to increase its performance and become an electric BRT.
Today, in a statement, the PTP has insisted on proposing the conversion of this line of the Barcelona bus network into a tramway along Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, extending the current T5 line to Plaza Ildefons Cerdà.
“The current volume of demand for the corridor justifies a tramway axis,” the association assures in a statement in which it maintains that the tramway would make it possible to overcome the capacity limitations of the H12 line by incorporating a mode of transport with greater capacity (4,000-8,000 travellers/hour with respect to the 2,000 travellers/hour of the bus), especially in the central section of the line between Plaza España and Glòries.
“A continuous tram line between Plaça de Ildefons Cerdà, El Besòs and Badalona would favor fast journeys and accessible without making any transfers or links on the second most important avenue in Barcelona”, affirms the PTP.
Despite the insistence that the tram circulate on Gran Via in the future, PTP has welcomed the measures announced to improve the H12, which has claimed that “they are not limited to a single line, but that they be implemented immediately to the rest corridors of the orthogonal network” of the Barcelona bus.
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It also claims that the improvement of the service on the H12 line is not limited to incorporating technological improvements, sbut also elements and actions that allow improving the speed and efficiency of the service.
Specifically, they propose, among other things, to commit to a dedicated bus lane and completely segregated from other vehicles (also including the taxi), increase the number of double stops along the entire Gran Via or an active and efficient management of the control of infractions related to the bus lane.