When a railway project takes a step forward, flies over a certain feeling of ‘déjà vu’. That is why it is worthwhile, in addition to explaining, analyzing, calibrating and celebrating the news, realizing a tour of the newspaper library. The Government has just tendered the drafting of the construction project for the extension of metro line 1from Fondo, in Santa Coloma, to Lloreda-Sant Crist, in Badalona, with an intermediate station in Montigalà and some garages with workshops so that TMB can have another station for setting up the trains. This July 2023. They are met, however, 16 years since the Generalitat itself tendered the informative study of this same project. It was April 26, 2007, with movies like ‘apocalypto‘ either ‘Night in the museum‘ in the best cinemas and with Miguel Bose premiering the thememy brunette‘.
The decade lost by the infrastructure crisis. The same could be said of the central section of line 9, of the improvements in the Rodalies network, of the rail access to the port from Barcelona, from La Sagrera, from the new Sants station or from the tram on Diagonal. Everything stopped, and it is fair to admit that now everything is going getting back in shape. In the case of the extension of L1 beyond Santa Coloma, the estimated value of the contract to draw up the construction project is 2.8 million euros, VAT included. Don’t be confused with him informative studybecause there a more or less thick brushstroke is given, while here we go into the detail of each square centimeter of the work, both the galleries and the stations and their accesses.
In addition, one must add basic study, which was tendered in 2020 for one million euros and which will also serve as the basis for the final drafting of the work. As detailed by a Territori spokesperson, this finished report will be made available again public exposure in the coming weeks, since TMB has requested expand the garages. In this way, the document will already be 100% closed by the time the new public tender for drafting the construction project is awarded.
past promises
This last tender gives a period of 12 months to execute the contractand then a new public call will come for another private one to take over the physical works of the subway extension. The optimistic thing would be to think that the machines will begin to raise dust in Santa Coloma at some point in the last quarter of 2025, but to heal in health, the most prudent thing to do is to speak, at least 2026. Add a couple or three years of work, at least. Keep in mind, for the sake of calibrating optimism, that promises were made in 2012 and 2017 and none of them have been fulfilled.
In defense of the current Government, for now no one provides official dates. If you’ve missed it, here’s a summary of the timeline: informative study (2007), basic study (2020), drafting of the construction project (2023), competition to award works (2024?), inauguration of the new leg of the L1 to Badalona (before 2030?).
The new 1.75-kilometre section of the metro will serve the neighborhoods of Montigalà, Lloreda and Sant Crist. The L1 will arrive at Badalona through the avenue of Monaco and the street of Mendelssohn until the new Montigalà station, which will have side platforms, a length of 100 meters and two entrances from the street (including an elevator). It will be located next to the municipal sports center, under the Parque de las Montanyetes. The route will continue along the boulevard of Sant Joan and up to the Joan Llongueras school and the Llibertat institute-school, now on Avenida de Puigfred, not far from the Badalona municipal stadium. This terminal will have a eight meter central platform and two vestibules with two exits to the street. As for the garage, the initial plan was for it to have a maximum capacity of 14 convoysbut it is something that will be revised upwards from September at the request of TMB, the public company that operates the metro.
Connection with Rodalies and L2, on the horizon
The budget for the work was 260.1 million euros in 2011, but in 2020 there was already talk of 310 million. In year one of the pandemic, on May 21, to be exact, the Department of Territories expanded expectations for the extension of L1: from Lloreda-Sant Crist to the Badalona Rodalies R1 stationcreating three new stations and a important exchanger with the coastal line that Renfe operates.
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This would culminate the project that has been going on since the Plan Director d’infraestructures (PDU) 2001-2010. In another bloody comparison, the entire section extended from Fondo to the suburban train stop had a price of 111 million euros in 2002. In 2009 there were already 402 million.
This new extension would also allow connect with metro L2 through the Badalona Pompeu Fabra downstairs. This phase is at a very early stage, since at that time the Environmental impact studies, prior to the entire chronology that has already passed the section that jumps from Santa Coloma to Badalona. With the five new seasons from the bottom to the sea, it is expected attract nearly 40,000 new daily trips. When this will happen, no one knows. But if they like to play, what will be finished first, the Sagrada Família or the entire layout of line 1 of the metro?