Archive

Over the weekend I swung by the airport via the L9S metro to see if I could ride the Rodalies train from the airport. Barcelona's T2 terminal is the only one with a commuter rail connection and it goes through Barcelona to Maçanet - Massane. This Renfe operated service and the branch off the main rail network is scheduled to be replaced altogether with a new R-Aeroport service run by FGC in 2027. It's going to connect the center of Barcelona with the airport and provide a more frequent service.

Whether this is required or not is a controversial topic but I wanted to ride the Rodalies from the airport at least once. Unfortunately, for all of the 45 minutes I was there no train arrived and the platform began filling up with agitated travelers. So I decided to continue on my way using the L9S metro instead.

While I was there I did get to see the new logo placed on the outside of the station. The FGC and RA service logos are displayed right next to Barcelona's metro logo. On the left is Adif, the infrastructure operator. I thought this was interesting given the new line would be underground as it branches towards the airport unlike the current branch. I guess this shelter will still be used with the new service.

This week we have another bus! I had to share this because it has an interesting front.

The is the Vectia Teris, number 4456, depending on where you look online this is called the Teris.9 or the Teris.10. These buses do come in 10.7 and 9.7 metre variants. The TMB press release from 2019 places this bus at 10 metres, so I'm not sure where exactly this lands in that range. To add to the confusion, this bus used to be called Tempus built by the Castrosua. Barcelona was used to pilot the Tempus back in 2009 after which they purchased a 12 metre and 9.5 metre variant.

Together wtih CAF, Castrosua formed the Vectia brand in 2013 to focus on all sort of hybrid and fully-electric buses. According to Urban Transport Magazine, Vectia became Solaris Bus Ibérica in 2019 after a merger, Solaris was acquired by CAF in 2018.

The Teris buses used by TMB are diesel-electric hybrids with electric traction. The buses are also equipped with ultracapcitors which allows them to leave stops purely on electricity alone.

This picture was taken of Carrer de Badajoz after the bus left the Badajoz - Diagonal stop, it's travelling on line 192 from Poblenou to Hospital de Sant Pau.

No railspotting this week, instead we have a bus!

I took this picture at the rotonda d'Àfrica in Sant Martí located between the Marina metro station and tram stop. The bus in question is the Irizar ie tram which is fully electric and recharges overnight at the depot. It's used on the H16 line connecting Passeig de la Zona Franca to Fòrum Campus Besòs. The H16 was the first line to be fully zero emissions in Barcelona.

I wanted to get a clearer picture of the bus in action going around but the roundabout was quite busy. This was the best one I got.

While here I also filmed the tram leaving and ariving the at the Marina stop. I'll upload that video soon.

Inspired by Robert Birming's Photo slash page, I've decided to start my very own!

This week in my railspotting adventures, two Alstom Civia (serie 465) trains on the Pont de la Vanguard. Under this rail bridge is the "La pell de L'Hospitalet" mural.

This section of track sits between the Bellvitge Gornal and Barcelona - Sants stations.

I originally shared this picture on Mastodon.