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Line 9 (Línia 9 in Catalan) is a line of the Barcelona Metro network that is currently under construction, with 24 stations open in Barcelona and the El Prat de Llobregat, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet suburbs, since December 2009. Currently, the line is divided in two branches, waiting for the connection between them to be built. The Aeroport T1 - Zona Universitària section is called L9 South (L9 Sud in Catalan), and the La Sagrera - Can Zam section L9 North (L9 Nord in Catalan). Upon completion, it will be the longest automatic train operation (i.e. driverless vehicle) metro line in Europe.
Contents
Lines 9 and 10
The complete project encompasses an underground line with two branches spanning a good deal of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, crossing Barcelona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Badalona, l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat. Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona is the company operating the line.
The name line 9 (L9) can refer either to the whole project of L9/L10 or to the common trunk plus the L9 branches. The total system will have a length of 47.8 km, of which 43.71 underground and 4.09 on viaducts. L9/L10 will be the deepest line in the Barcelona network.
Line 9 shares its route with L10 for a large part.
Construction
Originally expected to be ready by 2008, ongoing problems with its construction delayed its expected completion until as late as 2013-2014. It was subsequently further delayed to 2016.
On 13 December 2009, the section between Can Peixauet and Can Zam, with the exception of Santa Rosa station, opened to the public. A further station, Bon Pastor, opened on 18 April 2010; as the first section of L10 was opened. The section from La Sagrera to Bon Pastor (except Sagrera station) opened on 26 June 2010.
On February 12, 2016 the El Prat branch opened from Aeroport T1 to Zona Universitària stations. This is a 20 km section with 15 stations, however three stations – Aeroport Terminal de Càrrega, La Ribera and Camp Nou – did not open, as they were built to serve future developments or for technical reasons.
Line 9 is being bored by a single 11.95 metres (39.2 ft) tunnel boring machine (TBM) – where other metros bore a pair of tunnels, one for each direction, Line 9's extra wide tunnel is wide enough for both the tracks (which are stacked on top of each other), and for the route's stations.
Because the route passes through different geological conditions, the TBM is designed to replace the cutterheads with heads suited for the current conditions. In June 2010 the TBM's hard rock cutterhead was replaced with its original cutterhead, designed to bore through clay.
List of stations
(Stations under construction in italics)
El Prat area
Provisional L9S Start
Central branch, shared with L10
Provisional L9S End
Provisional L9N Start
Besòs area
Provisional L9N End
Extra cost
Going to the airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 stations is charged with an extra of 4.5 euros if are you traveling with a single ticket or with a T-10. The airport charge can be paid before exiting the metro. No need to pay the fee if you are traveling with daily, monthly, quarterly or Hola BCN! tickets.