Barcelona Metro Line 2
From Paral·lel to Badalona Pompeu Fabra: the purple line crosses the Eixample and Sant Martí to Sant Adrià de Besòs and Badalona.
About Line 2
The line covers 12.8 km and 18 stations, all in double-track tunnel, between Paral·lel and Badalona Pompeu FabraES. Within Barcelona it serves the Eixample and Sant Martí districts; it then enters Sant Adrià de Besòs and ends in the centre of Badalona.
Interchanges: L3 and the Montjuïc Funicular at Paral·lel; L1 at Universitat; L3 and L4 at Passeig de Gràcia; L5 at Sagrada Família; L1 again at Clot; L4 at La Pau; and L10 Nord at Gorg. According to TMB, every station on the line is accessible to people with reduced mobility; it was the first line on the network to make its facilities accessible and to fit textured flooring for blind passengers.
Stations on Line 2
18 stations, 7 of them with an interchange to another line (marked with a ring and the colours of the other lines).
Timetable and frequency of Line 2
| Line | Mon–Thu | Fri & eve of holidays | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L2 | 05:00 – 00:26 | 05:00 – 02:26 | 05:00 – all night | all night – 00:26 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| L2 | 3.2 min | 7.5 min | Bac de Roda |
Average interval worked out from the trains per hour and direction that the operator schedules at that station.
History
The name “Line II” was used in 1959 for a different line, from Sagrera to Vilapicina, which in 1970 became part of today’s L5. The plan for a second route between Paral·lel and Sagrada Família went ahead anyway: the contract was awarded in 1968, work stopped for months when it hit a block of stone from the old city wall, and in 1973 it was halted for lack of funds, with the tunnel already bored. In 1982 the lines were renumbered with Arabic numerals and L2 was given its purple colour.
A 1991 agreement between the Spanish ministry, the Generalitat and the metropolitan transport authority (Entidad Metropolitana del Transporte) allowed it to be finished. In September 1995 six stations opened between Sant Antoni and Sagrada Família, and in December the refurbished Paral·lel. The opening was controversial: the mayor reproached President Jordi Pujol for the Generalitat not having taken the line up to Montjuïc. It reached La Pau in September 1997.
A section of L4 had been running between La Pau and Pep Ventura since 1985. It closed in June 2002 for conversion and reopened on 1 October 2002 as part of L2. The latest extension, about 600 metres to Badalona Pompeu Fabra, came into service in July 2010; during the works, remains of the Roman town of Baetulo were found.
How the service runs
At Bac de Roda, on weekdays, 18 to 19 trains an hour run in each direction in the morning peak, one every 3 minutes or so, and about 14 for the rest of the day, one every 4 or 5. In the evening this drops to 7 or 8 an hour. At weekends the pace is gentler: 8 to 9 trains an hour, roughly one every 7 minutes. As on the other TMB lines, service runs without a break on Saturday night, with a train every 9 or 10 minutes in the small hours; on Fridays the last train leaves at around 2:00. Driving is semi-automatic, always with a driver on board.
The trains
The line uses 9000-series trains. The first seven units arrived on L2 on 28 September 2006: they had been ordered for L9, but delays in building that line meant they were used to renew the fleet on other lines. They are equipped for the ATC-S driverless system, although on L2 they have a driver. They replaced the 2100 series, which moved to L4.
Frequently asked questions
Between Monumental and Paral·lel trains run on the left, unlike on the rest of the network. That section has two parallel circular tunnels, and trains switch sides at Monumental through separate tunnels at different levels.
No. That section was planned for the old Line V and opened in 1985 as a temporary part of L4. After three months of works in 2002, it became part of L2 on 1 October that year, linking La PauES with Pep Ventura.
The station was going to be called Badalona Centre. Several local organisations asked for a tribute to Pompeu Fabra, who made Badalona his adopted home town, and in April 2010 the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità approved the current name. The square above it, built on the block demolished for the works, is named after him too.