Barcelona Metro Line 12
FGC shuttle with a single stop between Sarrià and Reina Elisenda, the former L6 branch opened in 1976.
About Line 12
Line 12 is an FGC line (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya), not a TMB one. It carries a metro number on the integrated network map and you pay with the same ATM zone 1 tickets.
L12 has just two stations, SarriàES and Reina ElisendaES. It is part of FGC’s Barcelona-Vallès line and shares infrastructure with L6 and L7 and with the S1 and S2 services. It is served by 112 and 113 series trains, on standard-gauge track with 1.5 kV DC overhead power.
At Sarrià you can change to L6 and FGC’s other trains. According to FGC, Sarrià station is not accessible to people with reduced mobility. Until 2016 L6 trains ran straight through to Reina Elisenda; since then you have to change trains at Sarrià.
Stations on Line 12
2 stations, 1 of them with an interchange to another line (marked with a ring and the colours of the other lines).
Timetable and frequency of Line 12
| Line | Mon–Thu | Fri & eve of holidays | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L12 | 05:43 – 00:19 | 05:43 – 02:30 | 05:38 – 02:30 | 05:38 – 00:42 |
Earliest first departure and latest last departure at any station on the line, for a week without public holidays; on FGC every train that stops is counted (S and R trains too). Each station page has its own times by direction.
| Line | Interval Monday–Thursday, 08:00 | Sunday, 12:00 | Measured at |
|---|---|---|---|
| L12 | 6 min | 10 min | Reina Elisenda |
Average interval worked out from the trains per hour and direction that the operator schedules at that station.
History
Its track comes from the Ferrocarril de Sarrià a Barcelona, opened in 1863 at street level as a steam railway on Iberian gauge, when Gràcia, Sant Gervasi and Sarrià were still independent towns. The Barcelona section began to go underground from 1929, and in 1976 the branch to Reina Elisenda was completed; for four decades it was part of L6. As early as 1963 the Emergency Plan had proposed extending the line from Sarrià through Pedralbes.
The name L12 had been used before for a different project: a 26 km line with 23 stations between Castelldefels, Sant Boi and Sarrià, added at the last minute to the 2001-2010 Infrastructure Master Plan. The ATM reserved the colour beige for it on 4 July 2002 and approved a more detailed route in May 2003, but the next government dropped it because of its high cost and replaced it with extensions of L3 and L6. In 2016, with the rebuilding of Sarrià station, the branch began to run as a separate shuttle under the name L12.
How the service runs
L12 is run by FGC and has no all-night service on Saturday. From Monday to Thursday it runs from about 5:45 until just after 0:15; on Fridays and Saturdays it runs until around 2:30, and on Sundays until 0:40. This guide does not have the shuttle’s frequency, so to plan a connection it is best to check the departure times on each station’s page. The journey is a single stop; at Sarrià you change to L6 and FGC’s other trains.
Frequently asked questions
Because the Reina Elisenda branch, which used to be part of L6, began running as a separate shuttle in 2016 as a result of the works at Sarrià station. Since then it has been shown on the metro network as L12.
A 26 km line with 23 stations between Castelldefels, Sant Boi and Sarrià, included in the 2001-2010 Infrastructure Master Plan with a budget of €1,000 million. It was dropped and replaced with the extension of L3 to Sant Feliu and of L6 to Finestrelles-Sant Joan de Déu.
The Reina Elisenda branch was completed in 1976, but it leaves the line of the old Tren de Sarrià, opened in 1863, whose urban section went underground from 1929.