Transport in Barcelona

National and International Connections

The main gateway for international travellers to Barcelona is the El Prat International Airport, located 10 kilometers south-west of the city, and in 2007 the Spanish state’s traffic was 32,898,249.

El Prat’s Airport operates the world’s major airlines with direct flights to all major cities of Europe, with numerous connections to cities on five continents. One of the three terminals of the airport is named the “air bridge” that connects Madrid and Barcelona with flights every 20 minutes at rush hour. Other airports used to get to Barcelona, especially for companies cheap flights (low cost) is the airport of Reus and Gerona, a little over an hour from Barcelona.

Another important city gate, especially for freight is the Port of Barcelona.  This is one of the largest in the Mediterranean and in Europe for the transport of persons and goods, and thanks to its proximity to the city center, has become a large cruise port. The city also has three marinas, the Port Vell, the Olympic Port and Port de Sant Adrià for private boats.

As far as road transport is concerned, Barcelona has a dense network of motorways and expressways, and the main AP7 are, starting in Almeria, past Valencia, Barcelona and continues to Perpignan, the A2 that begins in Madrid through Saragossa, Barcelona and also continues towards the French border, and finally the AP2, which runs parallel to the A2 motorway between Zaragoza and Barcelona. Both the AP2 and the AP7 toll road are operated by concessionaires.

The railway network’s headquarters is Barcelona Sants station, where trains leave for long-distance connecting the city with the entire continent. The current Spanish network has the peculiarity of being based on an all known Iberian gauge track which is incompatible with international gauge tracks, which makes it difficult to communicate with France.  This is why the new high-speed rail network being implemented in Spain uses the European standard. It has now completed the first phase of the refurbishment works of the Sants station with the total renovation of the platforms to adapt to the format part of the international station.  This allows the arrival of the TGV trains to the city, from the Madrid – Saragossa, and in the future there will be an extension of the line which will link with Paris at high speed through Gerona, Figueras and Perpignan.

Public Transport

To move between the various cities of the province of Barcelona, there are two rail networks. One is service RENFE Cercanias Barcelona, with a network of 7 lines, and some 123 million journeys a year, but in recent years this service has deteriorated and the service has had numerous problems and failures due to increased demand.  These demands include lack of investment and poor planning of the works for the arrival of the AVE to the city. The other option, which serves different populations, is to Ferrocarrils of the Generalitat of Catalonia FGC, a suburban train service operated and built by the Generalitat of Catalonia.

There is also an extensive network of city and intercity buses connecting the various cities of the province, and those with Barcelona.

The internal public transport network in Barcelona is the Barcelona Metro network that reaches every corner of the city.  There are currently 9 lines with 150 stops and is 115 kilometers in length, but it is being expanded with the extension of the lines existing and construction of 2 new lines that cross the city.
Trambaix

In 2004 several administrations, local, metropolitan and regional, prompted the re-introduction of the tram as a means of mass transport, especially to communicate with the cities in the metropolitan area. Currently, the networks Trambaix and Trambesos are currently still under implementation and expansion of their networks.

City buses are also an effective means of transport, which consists of over 1070 buses on 103 lines. The daytime service is complemented by a night bus service called Nitbus.

All public transportation mentioned so far is integrated, which means that their prices are equal, and you can transfer between different modes of transport without having to pay for the individual ticket.

Other public transport in the city is the tourist bus.  This is a bus fleet over 2 floors with routes that incorporate the major attractions of the city and service guides that discuss the most interesting aspects of the route. This service is integrated and works with a ticket valid for one day.
Taxi Barcelona.

The taxi service in Barcelona is very distinctive and unmistakable by their characteristic colors. Vehicles are black with yellow doors and bonnets.

Lovers of the environment and physical activity may prefer the use of bicycles to travel around Barcelona. The topography of the city and the weather tends to make the most of using bicycles. Barcelona has an extensive network of bicycle lanes throughout the city, as well as a network of automatic stations distributed around the city.

Mobility within a private vehicle in Barcelona, as in any big city in Europe, has complicated sound planning.  Its expansion, ring roads and major roads that cross the city are the Diagonal, Meridiana, Aragon, and Gran Via. This structure makes it easy to travel around the city.  However, the high population density and the number of vehicles are not recommended for circular drive. In addition, the City opened in May 2005.  The green areas for parking and the large blue areas, which require paying for parking on public roads in the most central districts of the city. Barcelona is the European city with the largest number of motorcycles, in proportion to its population.

On the other hand, Barcelona is deploying outlets for recharging electric vehicles.

Electric vehicle

Barcelona wants its name linked to the urban car: electric cars.  The City has signed a manifesto with Endesa, UPC, RACC, Seat and Nissan to turn the city into a test bench where the purely electric cars (non-hybrids) are gradually gaining ground on the internal combustion engine. LIVE is the project, whose initials correspond to the Implementation of Logistics for Electric Vehicles.