Trams in Barcelona

The first tramway line in Barcelona was the Barcelona-Gràcia (Josepets), a horse tramway that opened by the Barcelona Tramways company on 28 June 1872. Within a few years, lines were built throughout Barcelona and many of its surrounding villages. As the tramways helped to integrate the metropolis, these villages became quarters of today's Barcelona. However closures then started to happen. With the exception of the Tramvia Blau, the last two tramway lines operated on 18 March 1971. For the next thirty years or so, this one short line was the only tramway in Barcelona. Towards the end of the 1980s a number of new tramways were opened in other European cities, and Barcelona started to consider the possibility of building new lines. To test this idea, in 1997 a short test tramway was built along the Diagonal with just two tram stops. Tests were conducted with a tram from the Grenoble tram system in June 1997, and a month later with a Siemens Combino. The tests were successful, and the decision was made to build two new tram systems, both operating on parts of the Diagonal, although not interconnected. Both lines commenced operation in 2004, with TramBaix in the west starting on 5 April, whilst Trambesòs in the east commenced on 8 May. ==Accidents==

On 7 June 1926, architect Antoni Gaudí was struck by a passing number 30 tram of Les Tramways de Barcelone and lost consciousness. Assumed to be a beggar, the unconscious Gaudí did not receive immediate aid. Gaudí died on 10 June 1926 at the age of 73 and was buried two days later. ==Current network==

Tramvia Blau The Tramvia Blau is a long heritage streetcar line serving a hilly area of the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district. It links the Avinguda Tibidabo terminus of Barcelona Metro line L7 with the lower station of the Funicular del Tibidabo, thus providing part of a through link from the city centre to Tibidabo. It has been closed for reconstruction since spring 2018, with no known date scheduled for reopening. Tramvia Blau is operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), albeit not part of Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM) and therefore not fare-integrated with the other public transport networks of the metropolitan area; ticketing is paid cash only to the tram operators. The line is operated with a fleet of seven tram cars dating from 1901 to 1906. The Trambaix is operated by the TramMet company and is part of the ATM network and is fare-integrated with the other public transport networks of the metropolitan area. The line uses a fleet of Alstom Citadis trams. Like the Trambaix, Trambesòs is operated by the TramMet company and is part of the ATM network and is fare-integrated with the other public transport networks of the metropolitan area. It uses the same type of rolling stock as the Trambaix system. In November 2024, a new 1.8 km section of tramway, which is the first phase in the connection of the Trambaix and Trambesòs networks, was opened to the public, adding three new stations: Monumental (allowing a transfer to L2), Sicília and Verdaguer (which has an interchange with L4 and L5), as well as the reconstruction of the Glòries station. == Network Map ==