The President of the Government of Catalonia has now officially opened the new infrastructure, accompanied by the Minister for Land and Sustainability, Josep Rull; the Mayor of Sabadell, Juli Fernández; the Chairman of FGC, Enric Ticó; the Chairman of Catalan Government-run infrastructure, Joan Jaume Oms; and the Catalan Government’s representative for Barcelona, Miquel Àngel Escobar, as well as other officials.  In addition, during the event the train that made the inaugural journey was named after Joan Oliver, the poet and dramatist from Sabadell also known as Pere Quart.

Investment to improve people’s quality of life

In his speech at the opening event for this new section of FGC’s Metro del Vallès, the President also mentioned that in little over a year, the Catalan Government has not only extended FGC’s Sabadell and Terrassa lines, with an investment of 430 and 400 million euros respectively, it has also made Metro line L9 operational, and the T1 to Aeroport-Zona Universitària, with an investment of almost 2.9 billion euros. As well as all this, work has also started on the L10 line to connect the Barcelona neighbourhoods of la Marina and Zona Franca. All this, he said, was to meet “the demands not just of the authorities but of the public, the real beneficiaries of all this work”.

The leader of the Government explained that 3.8 billion euros have been invested in recent years “to improve people’s quality of life”, and it had been put into the areas with the highest population density and the most economic activity. All this has generated “social returns” that have led to a significant increase in passenger numbers, in turn allowing the operator to “freeze fare prices and, in some cases, even lower them”, he added.

The extension of the Sabadell line will be fully operational in Spring 2017, with a further 3.7 km of track and three more stations (Creu Alta, Sabadell Nord and Ca n’Oriac-Parc del Nord). In total, the extension of the Metro del Vallès to Sabadell spans 5.2 km (4.4 of which are new track), five stations and engine sheds at Ca n’Oriac.

In his speech, the Minister for Land and Sustainability pointed out that this line extension “renews the Government’s uncompromising commitment to public transport”. Rull emphasised that with the incorporation of 15 new trains on the line, waiting times for the service will be halved, which in practice means one train every five minutes, from 2019.

The new stations that were opened today will come into full service tomorrow. These facilities are accessible for people with limited mobility and stairs, escalators and three lifts have all been installed to ensure greater ease of movement for all passengers.