Barcelona Metro Line 11
Trinitat Nova to Can Cuiàs in 2.3 km and five stations, with two-car driverless trains and mostly single track.
About Line 11
L11 starts at Trinitat NovaES, where you can change to L3 and L4, and runs 2.3 km to Can CuiàsES, in Montcada i Reixac. On the way it serves Trinitat Nova, Torre Baró and Ciutat Meridiana, hilly neighbourhoods of Nou Barris: around Ciutat MeridianaES there are inclined lifts that climb to different parts of the neighbourhood.
The line is underground and almost entirely single track; only at Torre Baró | VallbonaES, where you can change to Rodalies (the commuter rail network), can trains in opposite directions pass each other. The stations are decorated with details from their surroundings. The trains have no driver and are controlled from the metro control centre at La Sagrera.
Stations on Line 11
5 stations, 1 of them with an interchange to another line (marked with a ring and the colours of the other lines).
Trinitat Nova – Can Cuiàs
5 stations
Timetable and frequency of Line 11
| Line | Mon–Thu | Fri & eve of holidays | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L11 | 05:00 – 00:06 | 05:00 – 02:06 | 05:00 – all night | all night – 00:05 |
Earliest first departure and latest last departure at any station on the line, for a week without public holidays. Each station page has its own times by direction.
| Line | Interval Monday–Thursday, 08:00 | Sunday, 12:00 | Measured at |
|---|---|---|---|
| L11 | 8.6 min | 13.3 min | Torre Baró | Vallbona |
Average interval worked out from the trains per hour and direction that the operator schedules at that station.
History
The 1971 Metro Plan proposed taking L1 to Ciutat Meridiana, and the 1974 plan, L3. In 1995 the president of the Generalitat promised a light metro for the north of Nou Barris and, after the city council first rejected it, the two administrations agreed on that solution. The 2001-2010 Infrastructure Master Plan included it as L11, with five stations between Trinitat Nova and Can Cuiàs. Work began in 2001 with a budget of €48 million that ended up at €86 million, and the line opened in December 2003. In its first year it carried an average of 2,900 passengers a day.
At first the trains ran automatically but with a driver on board. On 27 July 2009 the line closed for a month to fit platform screen doors, and since 16 December 2009 the trains have run with nobody in the cab. Because at Trinitat Nova the platform was shared with L4 and had no screen doors, the section to Casa de l’Aigua was still driven manually. Between 1 July and 12 September 2021 L11 closed while a platform of its own, with screen doors, was built at Trinitat Nova, and since then it has been automatic along its whole length.
How the service runs
At Torre Baró | Vallbona, from Monday to Friday, there are 7 or 8 trains an hour in each direction between 7:00 and 22:00, roughly one every 8 minutes. On Saturdays and Sundays the interval stretches to about 13 or 15 minutes, with 4 or 5 trains an hour. As on the other TMB lines, trains run all night on Saturday, with 4 to 6 an hour in the small hours, and on Fridays the service runs until after 2:00. The pace is set by the single track: trains can only pass each other at Torre Baró | Vallbona.
The trains
L11 has its own 500 series trains, built by CAF: they are similar to the 2000 series but have two cars instead of five. TMB has three trains of this series. That is why the line was presented as a “light metro”, although it has neither tram infrastructure nor tram vehicles. When it was built, 400 metres were set aside for longer platforms and the gradient was kept within the conventional metro maximum of 4 %, in case L4 is ever extended along it.
Frequently asked questions
That is how it was presented, because its two-car trains carry fewer people than those on the rest of the network. But it uses neither tram infrastructure nor tram vehicles: it is a short metro line, built as an extension of L4 beyond Trinitat Nova.
Because the line is almost entirely single track. Torre Baró | Vallbona is the only place with two tracks where trains travelling in opposite directions can pass, which limits how many trains the line can take.
From 1 July to 12 September 2021 a platform just for L11, with screen doors, was built at Trinitat Nova. Until then it shared a platform with L4 and, without screen doors, trains could not run automatically between Casa de l’Aigua and Trinitat Nova.