Barcelona Metro Line 6
FGC line between Catalunya and Sarrià, the successor of the 1863 Sarrià railway, running beneath Balmes and Via Augusta.
About Line 6
Line 6 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.
L6 is run by FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya), not TMB. It is part of FGC’s Barcelona-Vallès line and links Catalunya with SarriàES in eight stations. As far as Catalunya it shares tunnels with FGC’s other services, and as far as Gràcia with L7.
At Catalunya you can change to L1, L3 and L7; at ProvençaES and Gràcia to L7, and from Provença a walkway leads to Diagonal (L3 and L5). At Sarrià it connects with L12. There is also a walkway between Sant Gervasi and Pl. Molina (L7), but it is not listed as an official interchange. According to FGC, Sant Gervasi and Sarrià are not accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Stations on Line 6
8 stations, 5 of them with an interchange to another line (marked with a ring and the colours of the other lines).
Catalunya – Sarrià
8 stations · run by FGC
Timetable and frequency of Line 6
| Line | Mon–Thu | Fri & eve of holidays | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L6 | 04:50 – 00:18 | 04:50 – 02:26 | 05:30 – 02:26 | 05:30 – 00:41 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| L6 | 2.5 min | 6 min | Muntaner |
Average interval worked out from the trains per hour and direction that the operator schedules at that station.
History
The Ferrocarril de Sarrià a Barcelona opened in 1863 as a steam railway at street level on Iberian gauge, linking Barcelona with Gràcia, Sant Gervasi and Sarrià, which were then separate towns. Its route was changed so as not to cut through the blocks of the Cerdà plan, and it ended up running along Balmes and Via Augusta. In 1905 it was electrified and converted to standard gauge. Halts were added over time: Provença in 1882, La Bonanova in 1887 and Muntaner in 1908.
In 1929 the underground section between Catalunya and Muntaner opened, and in 1952 the main work to put the line underground was finished. The companies’ financial crisis led to the lines being handed provisionally to FEVE in 1977; in 1978 they passed to the Generalitat, and in 1979 FGC was created. In July 1996 the service joined the Metro del Vallès brand under the name U6; in 2003 it took a metro number as L6. Since 2016, because of the accessibility works at Sarrià station, the Reina Elisenda branch has run separately as L12.
How the service runs
L6 is run by FGC and has no all-night service: on Fridays and Saturdays the last train runs at around 2:30. Trains carrying the L6 name call at Muntaner about 6 times an hour around midday on weekdays, one every 10 minutes, and 4 an hour at weekends. But other FGC services on the Barcelona-Vallès line also stop on this trunk, and counting them all, on weekdays there are 23 to 24 trains an hour in the morning peak, one every 2 and a half minutes, and about 18 around midday. At weekends there are about 10 an hour, one every 6 minutes.
The trains
L6 is served by 112 and 113 series trains, built for standard gauge. The Barcelona-Vallès line has its depot and main workshop at FGC’s operations centre in Rubí, which also controls the traffic; the depot used to be at Sarrià, but it was dismantled in 2004 to bring everything together at Rubí.
Frequently asked questions
Because it grew out of the Tren de Sarrià, a railway separate from the metro that ended up in FGC’s hands. FGC’s urban lines were not considered part of the metro until fares were integrated in 2001, and in 2003 the U6 was renamed L6.
Not any more. The Reina ElisendaES branch, opened in 1976, used to be part of L6, but since 2016 it has run as a separate shuttle between Sarrià and Reina Elisenda, L12. To get there you have to change trains at Sarrià.
For L3, at Catalunya, which both lines serve. For L5, and also for L3, you can get off at Provença and follow the walkway that links it to Diagonal.