Valencia is the capital city of the autonomous region called Comunitat Valenciana, and with more than a million inhabitants in the metropolitan area it's Spain's third largest city. Situated by the Mediterranean Sea it's an important harbour and industrial centre on the east coast of Spain. The city has a unique park in the former river bed of the Turia river under which two stations, Túria and Alameda, are situated.

The Valencia Metro has been developed out of a former regional narrow gauge network opened as soon as 1888 and called El Trenet de València. Still under FEVE's administration in the early 1980's, it was decided to build a tunnel through the city centre in order to connect two of the northern lines with the one in the south. After all narrow gauge lines were taken over by the Valencian Government in 1987, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) opened the cross-city tunnel on 8 Oct. 1988, 100 years after the inauguration of the first narrow gauge line in Valencia, and began to call the new service Metro de Valencia.

Line 1

Although this line has a very regional character outside the city it can be considered a metro line within the city, i.e. between Empalme (formerly Ademuz) in the north and Torrent in the south with trains every 7.5 minutes (Beniferri - Hospital underground 6.7 km).
Until Oct. 1988 all 3 northern lines to Llíria, Bétera and Rafelbunyol left Valencia from Pont de Fusta (now on tram line 4). On that day the city tunnel was taken into service between Empalme (Ademuz) and Hospital. Until then the southern line had its city terminus at Jesús.

Line 1 can be divided into 4 sectors:

Empalme - Bétera 14 km, 11 stations, 5.8 km double track (Empalme - Seminari), 8.2 km single track (Seminari - Bétera), suburban service.

Empalme - Llíria 24 km, 16 stations, 4 km double track (Empalme - Paterna), 20 km single track (Paterna - Llíria), suburban service, this branch was called Línia 2 until 1998.

Empalme - Torrent 13.4 km (6.7 km underground), 14 stations, metro service.

Torrent - Villanueva de Castellón 43.8 km, single track, suburban service.

Line 3 / Line 5

Line 3 follows an older regional line to Rafelbunyol, which also used to have its city terminus at Pont de Fusta (now on tram line T4). The city section was built as a modern metro line running underground from Palmaret into the city to Alameda (1995, 3 km).

In 1998, the first stretch of what was originally planned as line 5, opened between Alameda and Avenida del Cid (3.2 km) with a branch from Colón to Jesús (2.4 km) to allow through trains between Torrent in the south and Palmaret in the north. Another section towards the west (Mislata-Almassil, 3 stations, 2.4 km) opened in 1999. Line 5 was originally designed to run from Mislata to Cabanyal Railway Station in the east. Soon after inauguration, this line became the busiest of the whole network as it serves the central shopping district around Colón station and the main railway station at Xàtiva.

Plans for the eastern section between Alameda and Cabanyal were changed in the late 1990s. Instead of going to Cabanyal Railway Station (RENFE is planning a cross-city tunnel which would not serve that station), the new Line 5 was to become been similar to a German Stadtbahn running under Santos Justos y Pastor Street (like those seen in Stuttgart, Frankfurt or Hannover) with light rail vehicles using high platforms in tunnel stations but lower platforms at the three eastern stops planned on street level. Eventually the line was built underground as far as Ayora. Contracts for construction of Line 5 Alameda - Ayora were awarded to NECSO-Torrescámara-Dragados in Sept. 2000. The cut-and-cover method was chosen and the new stretch opened in April 2003.

In the east, Line 5 was extended in April 2007 by one underground station to Marítim Serrería (planned as Jerónimo Monsoriu), where transfer is provided across the platform to the tram. The tram line from Marítim Serrería to Neptú, via Plaça de l'Armada Espanyola, opened on 17 April 2007.

In late 2002, a western extension of Line 5 under the Turia river towards Manises Airport was approved. This extension, which is totally underground, replaced the former Renfe line, which was handed over to FGV in early 2005 (service was suspended on 1 April 2005). The Airport line was broght into service in April 2007.

Stations on line 1 are very functional and quite uniform, but along the new Line 3, some artistic elements like wall reliefs and sculptures were incorporated into underground stations. Alameda has an outstanding architectural design by Santiago Calatrava. This station has two island platforms with four tracks to allow comfortable transfer in the future between lines 3 and 5. The newest stations on the western section of Line 3 are certainly among the most appealing in Spain, especially because of their spaciousness and design. All stations have high platforms.

Line T4 is a standard tram line that runs east-west through the northern part of the city connecting Line 1 at Empalme (formerly Ademuz) with Pont de Fusta in central Valencia (at the other side of the river bed park), the new University campus developments and the beaches. An extension from Empalme to TVV (Valencia TV) opened in March 1999. A further extension to Fira de Mostres (Trade Fair) was taken into service in 2000.

Line T6 was brought into service on 28 Sept 2007, running on a new 2.4 km section to Orriols and Torrefiel, most of the rest being shared with line T4. In the port area it links with line T5, both terminating underground at Marítim Serreria.

Apart from the FGV metro system, RENFE (Spanish National Railways) runs a regional service (Cercanías) which is especially busy on the southern lines C1-C2 with trains every 7,5 minutes between València-Nord (Central station) and Silla. Xàtiva on Line 3 is a direct transfer point in the city centre between RENFE trains and FGV metro.

8 Oct. 1988 - Line 1 [Bétera/Llíria -] Ademuz (now Empalme) - Hospital [- Castelló de la Ribera (now Villanueva de Castellón)]
5 May 1995 - Line 3 Alameda - Palmaret [- Rafelbunyol]
16 Sept 1998 - Line 3 Alameda - Av. del Cid / Jesús [-Torrent]
20 May 1999 - Line 3 Av. del Cid - Mislata-Almassil
30 April 2003 - Line 5 Alameda - Ayora (2.3km)
22 Sept 2004 - Line 1/5 Torrent - Torrent Avinguda (2.3km)
03 Oct 2005 - Line 5 Bailén station added
02 April 2007 - Line 5 Ayora - Marítim Serrería
18 April 2007 - Line 3/5 Mislata-Almassil - Aeroport

 Projects

- Line 5 is being extended further west along the exisiting railway right-of-way to Riba-Roja, later possibly to Vilamarxant.

- Another partly underground north-south route (Line T2) is planned. It will run from Orriols in the north to the Science City and Natzaret in the south. Coming from Orriols in the north (Ciutat de Valencia stadium) it will enter the north-south tunnel at Pont de Fusta. There will be underground stops in the old city centre at Museus (under the old riverbed), Carme and Mercat before reaching Xàtiva. The new central station is to be built a bit further south from its current location with an underground station called Germanías (transfer to the added Bailèn station on lines 3/5).
The new line will continue underground along Av. del Regne de Valènica, turning right into Luís de Santángel and General Urrutia with 2-3 underground stations and finally come to the surface near the crossroads Gral. Urrutia/Av. de la Plata. From there it will run on the surface to the Museu de les Ciències, now a major tourist attraction, and the Natzaret neighbourhood. This line is planned to use low-floor trams, so it can also be used by T4 trains. The northern surface section was completed in 2007 (to be initially operated as T6) and the central underground and southern surface routes by 2010.

See map with all planned extensions (showing 2005 project status) and new tram routes (thanks to Fernando Verdú)

- The underground section along the northern line 3 is planned to be extended to Alboraia, including two underground stations, Palmaret and Alboraia (1.6 km).

- Along Line 1, Benimàmet station on the Llíria branch, and Burjassot-Godella and Godella stations (1.8 km) on the Bétera branch are to be put underground.

- OPERATION

- FARES (2008, in Euro for zone A - Valencia city)

metrovalencia (FGV) (Official site)

Renfe Cercanías

Entitat de Transport Metropolità de València (Official site)

2 Articles by Rafael Alcaide on the Valencia Metro:

"El trenet de Valencia (1888-2000) la dimensión histórica y tecnológica de un transporte público"

"El ferrocarril en España (1829-1844). Las primeras concesiones..."

Robert Schwandl: METROS IN SPAIN. The Underground Railways of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao.- Capital Transport Publishing, London, July 2001- ISBN 1854142429

Rafael Alcaide González: El Trenet de València
Edición Lluís Prieto, Monografías del Ferrocarril 9, Barcelona, 1998. ISBN 84-921005-8-3
This book narrates the full history of Valencia's metro (in Spanish) with lots of old and new pictures.