ON DECEMBER 14 Line 11 of the Barcelona metro was officially opened, running from Line 4 at Trinitat Nova to Can Cuiàs via Casa de l’Aigua, Torre del Baró-Vallbona and Ciutat Meridiana. The line has 1·5 km in tunnel and 459m on the surface; there is an interchange with Renfe suburban services at Torre del Baró.
Serving an outlying district where the relief complicates surface access, Line 11 has been built as a light metro costing €48·3m. With the exception of a passing loop at Torre de Baró and twin platforms at Can Cuiàs, the route is single track, using UIC 54 rail on a concrete slab. Station platforms are 40m long compared with 100m elsewhere.
Line 11 has just two trains, which run at headways of 5min 30sec. Automatic train operation is to be introduced this summer.
Barcelona transport authority ATM has signed an agreement to lease 39 trainsets ordered from CAF in December 2002 for Lines 2, 3 and 5. Worth €214m, the stock is being leased for 18 years from a joint venture formed by CAF and the Kutxa bank, using anEIB loan of €110m and €97m from a syndicate of six banks. The first trains are due to enter service in mid-2005, and ATM is negotiating a similar agreement to lease the 50 driverless trainsets that Alstom is building for Line 9.
