Industry Railway Website www.fgc.cat Founded 5 September 1979 | Number of employees 1534 (2008) | |
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Key people Enric Ticó i Buxadós (President) Subsidiaries FGC OperadoraFGC InfraestructuresFGC EnginyeriaFGC Turisme i Muntanya Profiles | ||
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya ([ˌfɛrukəˈriɫz ðə ɫə ʒənəɾəɫiˈtad də kətəˈɫuɲə], "Catalan Government Railways"), or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain.
Contents
- History
- Barcelona metro and commuter lines
- Mountain railway tourist and funicular lines
- Broad gauge lines
- Freight
- References
The lines operated include metro and commuter lines in and around the city of Barcelona, tourist mountain railways, and rural railway lines. They include 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) of 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) gauge route, 140 kilometres (87 mi) of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge route, 42 kilometres (26 mi) of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge route, and 89 kilometres (55 mi) of broad gauge route, making the FGC one of the few railway companies to operate on four different gauges.
Whilst most lines are conventional adhesion railways, the FGC also operates two rack railways and four funicular railways.
History
FGC was founded on September 5, 1979 to manage lines whose ownership was transferred from the state-owned FEVE to the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1978 as part of the process of regional devolution under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. Its oldest line, the standard gauge Línia Barcelona-Vallès however dates back to 1863 which was built and operated by Companyia del Ferrocarril de Barcelona a Sarrià from 1863 until 1874, and Ferrocarril de Sarrià a Barcelona (FSB) (with Ferrocarrils de Catalunya (FCC)) from 1874 until financial difficulties forced FSB and FCC to be acquired by FEVE in 1977, which operated it until FGC took over the line in 1979. The second oldest line the Llobregat–Anoia line was opened in 1892 as an interurban tram using metre gauge tracks, which was taken over by the Companyia General dels Ferrocarrils Catalans (CGFC) in 1912 and transformed it into a train line; CGFC being later taken over by FSB and FCC, followed by the broad gauge Lleida – La Pobla de Segur line in 1951 and operated by RENFE until it was transferred to FGC in 2005-2010.
Barcelona metro and commuter lines
FGC operates some of the Barcelona commuter rail network. All lines are overhead DC electrified at 1.5kV. There are two distinct (and separate) systems:
The line numbering is as follows:
Mountain railway, tourist and funicular lines
The FGC operates three mountain railway lines:
The FGC also operates four funicular railways:
Broad-gauge lines
On 1 January 2005, ownership of the non-electrified broad-gauge line from Lleida to La Pobla de Segur passed from RENFE to FGC. This is the most derelict line in Catalonia — the stretch from Lleida to Balaguer had been upgraded (using second-hand rails) in the recent past, but from Balaguer northwards the track was in an appalling state. FGC has a number of plans for this line, including increasing the service frequency from three trains a day to a 30-minute service from Balaguer to Lleida, along the lines of a commuter railway; replacing all the rails and sleepers; introducing new trains to replace the ancient diesel stock currently used; and promotion of the line to tourists (it passes through some scenic countryside at its northern end). There are even plans to extend the line to the Pyrenees and possibly on to connect with railways in France — the plan when the line was built, but never carried out. Recent budget cuts had left the line in a worse state than it was on RENFE days, with currently three daily services from Lleida to Balaguer and only one running the whole length up to La Pobla de Segur.
As of 2015, the service on the line is as follows:
Freight
FGC currently operates two types of freight services on the Llobregat–Anoia line; one of which carries potash and salt from Súria and Sallent respectively to Martorell and the Port of Barcelona, and the other carries cars from SEAT's main factory in Martorell to the Port of Barcelona.
In September 2012, FGC announced that it was planning to start operating freight services across the Spanish rail network, as an open access operator. Initial routes would be Barcelona – Sevilla and Barcelona – Madrid.