Llobregat–Anoia Line

The Llobregat–Anoia Line (Catalan: Línia Llobregat-Anoia) is an unconnected metre gauge railway line linking Barcelona with the Baix Llobregat, Bages and Anoia regions, in Catalonia, Spain. Its name refers to the fact that it follows the course of the Llobregat and Anoia rivers for most of its length. Plaça d'Espanya station serves as the Barcelona terminus of the line, then continuing northwards to Martorell, where two main branches to Manresa and Igualada are formed. It also includes several freight branches, accounting for a total line length of 138 kilometres (86 mi) and 41 passenger stations.

Llobregat–Anoia Line
A 213 Series train at Olesa de Montserrat station.
Overview
Other name(s)	El Carrilet, Els Catalans
Native name	Línia Llobregat-Anoia
Status	Operational
Owner	Government of Catalonia
Line number	L8, S3, S4, S8, S9, R5, R50, R6, R60
Locale	Barcelona metropolitan area and northern Bages
Termini	Pl. Espanya Igualada, Manresa Baixador
Stations	41
Service
Type	Rapid transit, commuter rail, freight rail
Operator	Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC)
Depot	Martorell Enllaç
Rolling stock	42 213 Series EMU sets 5 257 Series dual power electro-diesel locomotives 73 62000 Series covered hopper wagons 86 63000 Series open wagons 7 65000 Series autoracks
Ridership	23,100,222 passenger journeys (2018)
History
Opened	1885 (1885) (Manresa–Guardiola de Berguedà section, as the Manresa to Berga and Guardiola de Berguedà Economical Railway) 1893 (1893) (Martorell–Igualada section, as the Central Catalan Railway) 1912 (1912) (Barcelona–Martorell section)
Technical
Line length	138 km (86 mi)
Number of tracks	2 (main route, including the Martorell–Olesa de Montserrat section) 1 (Igualada and freight branches, including the Olesa de Montserrat–Manresa section)
Character	At-grade, underground (in Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Cornellà de Llobregat)
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead lines (freight branches not electrified)

Llobregat–Anoia Line
0,planned extension Besòs Parc 0,Besòs Mar to Universitat Autònoma via Horta tunnel 0,Cristòfol de Moura Pere IV o Parc Central 0,Glòries Sagrada Família 0,Joanic Gràcia Francesc Macià Hospital Clínic Plaça d'Espanya Magòria-La Campana Ciutat de la Justícia Ildefons Cerdà Europa-Fira to Sant Vicenç de Calders Gornal to Barcelona Sants Sant Josep L'Hospitalet- Avinguda Carrilet Almeda Cornellà-Riera Cornellà Salines (planned) freight line to Port of Barcelona Sant Boi depot Molí Nou- Ciutat Cooperativa   Colònia Güell Santa Coloma de Cervelló Sant Vicenç dels Horts Can Ros     Quatre Camins Pallejà Sant Andreu de la Barca El Palau Martorell-Vila towards Barcelona Sants Martorell-Central towards Sant Vicenç de Calders   Martorell-Enllaç depot Abrera Sant Esteve Sesrovires Olesa de Montserrat   La Beguda Aeri de Montserrat Can Parellada Monistrol de Montserrat Masquefa Castellbell i el Vilar Piera Sant Vicenç-Castellgalí Vallbona d'Anoia Manresa-Viladordis Capellades freight line to Súria & Sallent La Pobla de Claramunt Manresa-Alta Vilanova del Camí Manresa-Baixador Igualada

Barcelona Metro Line 8, together with a number of commuter and freight rail services, runs on the line's main route between Barcelona and Sant Boi de Llobregat. The section between Barcelona and Olesa de Montserrat is operated as a high-frequency commuter rail system known as Baix Llobregat Metro (Catalan: Metro del Baix Llobregat), with some services continuing northwards to Manresa and Igualada. The Llobregat–Anoia Line is part of the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM) fare-integrated public transport system for the Barcelona metropolitan area.

History

Share of the Tranvía o Ferrocarril Económico de Manresa a Berga, issued 1 January 1902.

The Llobregat–Anoia Line originated from three formerly separate narrow gauge railway lines: Tranvía o Ferrocarril Económico de Manresa a Berga (opened in 1885), Ferrocarril Central Catalán (opened in 1893) and Camino de Hierro del Nordeste de España, built to quickly and cheaply give passenger and freight transportation to the rapidly industrialising Llobregat area. The line was extended to Barcelona in 1912. Between 1985 and 1987, the section between Cornellà-Riera and Sant Josep was moved underground, followed by the section between Sant Josep and Espanya. The Metro del Baix Llobregat designation was first introduced on this line in 2000, and the Line 8 service has been formally included in the Barcelona Metro network since 6 November 2003.

Development plans

Geographically accurate map of Barcelona Metro line 8

An extension of the line further into central Barcelona, with a new station in Plaça Francesc Macià, has been discussed since May 1999. In January 2017, the Catalan government approved a plan to extend the Llobregat–Anoia line from Plaça d'Espanya through the city as far as Gràcia station, also stopping at Hospital Clínic and Francesc Macià station, thereby linking with the Barcelona–Vallès Line, at an estimated cost of over €300 million. The project was finally approved by the government of Catalonia in 2021, with the final alignment serving the stations Espanya, Hospital Clínic, Francesc Macià and Gràcia. It will connect to Trambaix routes T1, T2 and T3, Line 5 of the Barcelona Metro and the Vallès line. Preliminary works started in 2022, with major construction starting in January of 2024. Tunneling is slated to begin in late 2025. The extension is expected to be operational by 2029 or 2030. A second phase is also being considered to extend the line towards the Besós river in the eastern part of the city, serving stations such as Joanic, Sagrada Familia and Glòries.

List of stations

The following table lists the name of each station on the Llobregat–Anoia Line in order from south to north; a photo of the current station; the rail services operating at the station (L8, S3, S4, S8, R5, R50, R6 and/or R60); the date the current station was opened; the municipality or the city district (in the case of Barcelona) in which each station is located; the fare zone each station belongs to according to the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM) fare-integrated public transport system; remarkable notes about the station, including clarifications, additional information and a location map; and usage figures.

#	Terminal of a service
*	Transfer station
#*	Transfer station and terminal
¤	Station located in Barcelona; city district indicated instead of municipality
●	The train stops at the station
｜	The train skip the station

Station	Photo	Line(s)									Opened	Municipality	Fare zone	Notes	Usage
Main route
Pl. Espanya#*		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1 Jun 1926	Sants-Montjuïc¤	1	Connects with Barcelona Metro lines 1 and 3.map 1	5.39
Magòria-La Campana		●	●	●	●	●	●	｜	●	｜	11 Jul 1997			Original at-grade station opened 1912.map 2	0.53
Ildefons Cerdà*		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2 Mar 1987	L'Hospitalet de Llobregat		Connects with Barcelona Metro line 10 (200-metre walk at street level).map 3	1.20
Europa – Fira*		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	13 May 2007			Connects with Barcelona Metro line 9 (L9 Sud).map 4	1.44
Gornal*		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2 Mar 1987			Connects with Rodalies de Catalunya commuter and regional rail services at Bellvitge station.map 5	0.69
Sant Josep		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	8 Jul 1985			map 6	0.79
L'Hospitalet Av. Carrilet*		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	9 Jul 1985			Original at-grade station opened 1912. Connects with Barcelona Metro line 1.map 7	1.99
Almeda		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		Cornellà de Llobregat		map 8	1.09
Cornellà Riera		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●				map 9	1.19
Sant Boi		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	29 Dec 1912	Sant Boi de Llobregat		map 10	1.83
Molí Nou-Ciutat Cooperativa#		●	●	●	●	●	●	｜	●	｜	13 Feb 2000			map 11	0.68
Colònia Güell		No service	●	●	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜		Santa Coloma de Cervelló	2B	map 12	0.04
Santa Coloma de Cervelló			●	●	●	●	｜	｜	●	●				map 13	0.12
Sant Vicenç dels Horts			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	29 Dec 1912	Sant Vicenç dels Horts		map 14	0.47
Can Ros#			●	●	●	●	●	｜	●	｜	1972			map 15	0.37
Quatre Camins			No service	●	●	●	●	｜	●	｜	4 Jul 2003			map 16	0.14
Pallejà				●	●	No service	●	●	●	｜	20 Oct 2007	Pallejà		Original at-grade station opened 1912.map 17	0.23
Sant Andreu de la Barca				●	●		●	●	●	●	20 Nov 2001	Sant Andreu de la Barca		Original at-grade station opened 1912.map 18	0.51
El Palau				●	●		●	｜	●	｜	25 Apr 2002			map 19	0.20
Martorell Vila – Castellbisbal				●	●		｜	｜	｜	｜	29 Dec 1912	Castellbisbal		map 20	0.03
Martorell Central*				●	●		●	●	●	●	21 May 2007	Martorell	3B	Original station opened 1893 as the southern terminus of the Catalan Central Railway. Connects with Rodalies de Catalunya commuter rail services.map 21	0.38
Martorell Enllaç#				●	●		●	｜	●	｜	29 Dec 1912			map 22	0.15
Manresa branch
Abrera		No service	No service	●	No service	No service	●	●	No service	No service	29 Mar 1922	Abrera	3B	map 23	0.12
Olesa de Montserrat#*				●			●	●				Olesa de Montserrat		Connects with the Olesa de Montserrat–Esparreguera Cable Car, which has been temporarily closed since August 2012.map 24	0.26
Aeri de Montserrat*				No service			●	｜			17 May 1930	Monistrol de Montserrat	4Z	Connects with the Montserrat Cable Car.map 25	0.11
Monistrol de Montserrat*							●	●			29 Oct 1922			Connects with the Montserrat Rack Railway.map 26	0.22
Castellbell i el Vilar							●	｜			22 Aug 1924	Castellbell i el Vilar	5D	map 27	0.004
Sant Vicenç – Castellgalí							●	●				Sant Vicenç de Castellet		map 28	0.11
Manresa Viladordis							●	●			16 Jul 1985	Manresa	l	map 29	0.05
Manresa Alta							●	●			22 Aug 1924			Original station opened 1885 together with the Manresa–Puig-reig section of the Manresa to Berga and Guardiola de Berguedà Economical Railway.map 30	0.07
Manresa Baixador#							●	●			9 Jun 1971			map 31	0.13
Igualada branch
Sant Esteve Sesrovires		No service	No service	No service	No service	No service	No service	No service	●	●	29 Jul 1893	Sant Esteve Sesrovires	3B	map 32	0.10
La Beguda									●	｜	29 Jul 1893	Masquefa	4C	map 33	0.01
Can Parellada									●	｜	1971			map 34	0.01
Masquefa									●	●	29 Jul 1893			map 35	0.10
Piera									●	●		Piera		map 36	0.16
Vallbona d'Anoia									●	●		Vallbona d'Anoia	5C	map 37	0.03
Capellades									●	●		Vallbona d'Anoia		map 38	0.05
La Pobla de Claramunt									●	●		La Pobla de Claramunt		map 39	0.03
Vilanova del Camí									●	●		Vilanova del Camí	6B	map 40	0.03
Igualada#									●	●	1978	Igualada		map 41	0.19

See also

• Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
• Barcelona Metro
• Olesa de Montserrat–Esparreguera Cable Car
• Montserrat Rack Railway
• Montserrat Cable Car
• Barcelona–Vallès Line

Maps

• ^map 1Pl. Espanya – 41.374701°N 2.148494°E / 41.374701; 2.148494 (01 - Plaça d'Espanya station)
• ^map 2Magòria-La Campana– 41.3675°N 2.139444°E / 41.3675; 2.139444 (02 - Magòria-La Campana (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 3Ildefons Cerdà – 41.3608°N 2.13028°E / 41.3608; 2.13028 (03 - Ildefons Cerdà station)
• ^map 4Europa | Fira – 41.356978°N 2.124908°E / 41.356978; 2.124908 (04 - Europa – Fira station)
• ^map 5Gornal – 41.354889°N 2.117417°E / 41.354889; 2.117417 (05 - Gornal (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 6Sant Josep – 41.360556°N 2.110556°E / 41.360556; 2.110556 (06 - Sant Josep (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 7L'Hospitalet Av. Carrilet – 41.357944°N 2.102722°E / 41.357944; 2.102722 (07 - Avinguda Carrilet station)
• ^map 8Almeda – 41.353056°N 2.085278°E / 41.353056; 2.085278 (08 - Almeda (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 9Cornellà Riera – 41.351389°N 2.070833°E / 41.351389; 2.070833 (09 - Cornellà Riera (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 10Sant Boi – 41.348056°N 2.043333°E / 41.348056; 2.043333 (10 - Sant Boi (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 11Molí Nou-Ciutat Cooperativa – 41.357778°N 2.034444°E / 41.357778; 2.034444 (11 - Molí Nou-Ciutat Cooperativa (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 12Colònia Güell – 41.364433°N 2.031303°E / 41.364433; 2.031303 (12 - Colònia Güell (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 13Santa Coloma de Cervelló – 41.370114°N 2.023803°E / 41.370114; 2.023803 (13 - Santa Coloma de Cervelló (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 14Sant Vicenç dels Horts – 41.388139°N 2.012464°E / 41.388139; 2.012464 (14 - Sant Vicenç dels Horts (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 15Can Ros – 41.399325°N 2.004964°E / 41.399325; 2.004964 (15 - Can Ros (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 16Quatre Camins– 41.406956°N 2.001636°E / 41.406956; 2.001636 (16 - Quatre Camins (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 17Pallejà – 41.420917°N 1.995528°E / 41.420917; 1.995528 (17 - Pallejà (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 18Sant Andreu de la Barca – 41.446742°N 1.973289°E / 41.446742; 1.973289 (18 - Sant Andreu de la Barca (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 19El Palau – 41.455817°N 1.962231°E / 41.455817; 1.962231 (19 - El Palau (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 20Martorell Vila | Castellbisbal – 41.475881°N 1.939033°E / 41.475881; 1.939033 (20 - Martorell Vila – Castellbisbal (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 21Martorell Central – 41.478944°N 1.925422°E / 41.478944; 1.925422 (21 - Martorell Central station)
• ^map 22Martorell Enllaç – 41.483833°N 1.918972°E / 41.483833; 1.918972 (22 - Martorell Enllaç (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 23Abrera – 41.522567°N 1.9067°E / 41.522567; 1.9067 (23 - Abrera (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 24Olesa de Montserrat – 41.541142°N 1.888661°E / 41.541142; 1.888661 (24 - Olesa de Montserrat (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 25Aeri de Montserrat – 41.590875°N 1.853181°E / 41.590875; 1.853181 (25 - Aeri de Montserrat (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 26Monistrol de Montserrat – 41.610339°N 1.849122°E / 41.610339; 1.849122 (26 - Monistrol de Montserrat (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 27Castellbell i el Vilar – 41.640503°N 1.854814°E / 41.640503; 1.854814 (27 - Castellbell i el Vilar (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 28Sant Vicenç | Castellgalí – 41.667917°N 1.859753°E / 41.667917; 1.859753 (28 - Sant Vicenç – Castellgalí (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 29Manresa Viladordis – 41.7247°N 1.833986°E / 41.7247; 1.833986 (29 - Manresa Viladordis (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 30Manresa Alta – 41.732081°N 1.832972°E / 41.732081; 1.832972 (30 - Manresa Alta (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 31Manresa Baixador – 41.731414°N 1.827897°E / 41.731414; 1.827897 (31 - Manresa Baixador (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 32Sant Esteve Sesrovires – 41.497597°N 1.872492°E / 41.497597; 1.872492 (32 - Sant Esteve Sesrovires (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 33La Beguda – 41.501744°N 1.838789°E / 41.501744; 1.838789 (33 - La Beguda (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 34Can Parellada – 41.502203°N 1.830808°E / 41.502203; 1.830808 (34 - Can Parellada (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 35Masquefa – 41.502833°N 1.812558°E / 41.502833; 1.812558 (35 - Masquefa (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 36Piera – 41.525908°N 1.754383°E / 41.525908; 1.754383 (36 - Piera (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 37Vallbona d'Anoia – 41.520178°N 1.709006°E / 41.520178; 1.709006 (37 - Vallbona d'Anoia (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 38Capellades – 41.521506°N 1.695117°E / 41.521506; 1.695117 (38 - Capellades (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 39La Pobla de Claramunt – 41.554567°N 1.677847°E / 41.554567; 1.677847 (39 - La Pobla de Claramunt (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 40Vilanova del Camí – 41.573194°N 1.642106°E / 41.573194; 1.642106 (40 - Vilanova del Camí (Llobregat–Anoia Line))
• ^map 41Igualada – 41.578001°N 1.629981°E / 41.578001; 1.629981 (41 - Igualada (Llobregat–Anoia Line))

Bibliography

• Memòria de Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya 2014 [2014 Report of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya] (PDF) (Report) (in Catalan). Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya. 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.

External links

• Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) official website Archived 31 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• Llobregat–Anoia Line at trenscat.cat (in Catalan)