News
Two days of incidents disrupt Barcelona metro's L1 and L3 lines
Barcelona's metro has seen several incidents between Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 September, with temporary closures on the L1 and L3 lines and central stations out of service at different points on both days. Service has now been restored on the affected sections.
One of the most significant closures occurred on the L1 on Wednesday afternoon. From 15:37, trains stopped running between Espanya and Glòries, affecting stations such as Rocafort, Urgell, Universitat, Catalunya, Urquinaona and Arc de Triomf.
The cause, however, was not the rain. TMB reported medical assistance on a train stopped at Urgell. Services began to recover at 15:54, so the disruption lasted around twenty minutes rather than approximately an hour.
At almost the same time, there was another problem on the L3. A second medical assistance incident, this time at Mundet, forced the section between Montbau and Canyelles to be temporarily taken out of service. They were therefore two independent medical incidents that coincided during an afternoon marked in Catalunya by the alert over heavy rainfall.
The green line caused problems again later. TMB temporarily closed Liceu station and trains ran without stopping there while an incident was resolved. On Thursday, the L3 was again temporarily interrupted between Espanya and Passeig de Gràcia, while trains operated normally from Zona Universitària to Espanya and from Passeig de Gràcia to Trinitat Nova.
This latest closure was also resolved and service recovered. In its notices, TMB did not attribute these L3 incidents to the rainfall, so a direct relationship between the closures and the weather episode cannot be established without specific confirmation from the company.
The confusion is understandable because on Wednesday Barcelona and several surrounding counties were under alert for intense rain. The Generalitat activated Inuncat and restricted travel in several metropolitan areas, although rainfall ultimately proved less intense than forecast in some places.
For metro users, the result has been a succession of disruptions in less than 24 hours just before the Diada, when public transport will also face specific changes because of the gatherings and events planned for Friday, 11 September.
Late on Thursday, TMB no longer listed any of these isolated closures among its active notices. Those travelling through the centre during the Diada should consult the changes planned for Friday, especially around the areas with the highest concentration of people.