Barcelona

 

Two centuries, two decades, three ways.

TMB 1803 MAN NL273F CNG with Castrosua body rounds the fountain on Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes in 2019.

It is very seldom that I visit a foreign location more than once but Barcelona is an exception. The first occasion was in 1973 travelling by coach, a French registered Mercedes Benz 0305, from Boulogne via Paris and Madrid. In 2010 it was a lot quicker, with a cheap Easyjet flight and short ‘Aerobus’ hop into the city centre aboard a three-axial Neoplan. The 2019 journey was a long, tiring, day trip from London St Pancras via Paris on Eurostar and French TGV right into the heart of Barcelona.

A Société des usines Chausson with Pegaso engine from the 1973 visit.

In 1973 the city was a commercial hub with a vast expanse of docks and it traded on its Gaudi connection to attract a small number of tourists. The south of the city, towards the docks, was generally out-of-bounds to tourists after dark, apart from those seeking the comfort of a lady for the night. By 2010 the dock area had been gentrified and now housed a large marina and expensive shopping centres, whilst the city at large had become trendy, resulting in a major increase in tourists. 2019 was a shock: the city was overrun by visitors and large numbers of migrants from Africa, boosted by day visitors from cruise ships. The one constant throughout has been the never-ending building of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia Cathedral, construction work having commenced on 19th March 1882 and projected to be completed within the current decade.  

 

A Pegaso 6035 artic again from the 1973 visit.

The metropolitan area of Barcelona has 164 municipalities covering an area of 636 sq km with a population of 5.5m. Passenger services are provided by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) with a fleet of 1140 buses and it has additional responsibility for the metro, tram, regional railway, urban railway, city sightseeing buses and the funicular railway. The bus network carries 203m passenger per annum on 109 routes (three D routes, eight H routes, seventeen V routes, seventy-four red routes, seventeen night services and three sightseeing routes).

TUSsal (Transports Urbans i Serveis Generals, Societat Anònima Laboral), MAN NL223 with Caetano body on route B20 from the Barri Oliveres suburb into the city centre Sant Pere terminus. Photographed in 2010 outside La Sagrada Familia Cathedral.

Horse-drawn trams were introduced to the city in 1872, followed by steam trams in 1877. Buses were introduced in 1906 with the first permanent urban bus service beginning in 1922. Services were affected by the ravages of the Civil War. Many of the tram lines were damaged by air-raids and were sabotaged. In addition to this, there was very little capital available with which to run the transport system. In the aftermath of war, the network was gradually repaired and reinstated. In 1951, the municipal government gradually began to take over the management of transport services which had previously been run by private companies and by 1958 what has become TMB had been formed.

 

Left: Aerobus Scania K360 with Castrosua Magnus body at the Plaça de Catalunya city centre terminus in 2019. Right: Aerobus Neoplan N4420 L Centroliner at the Plaça de Catalunya city centre terminus in 2010.

Today the fleet is fairly modern, thanks in no small part to funding from the European Investment Bank with a €73.5 million loan in 2019 for the purchase of 254 buses. This is in addition to €32.5 million invested by TMB in 2018. The last major upgrade took place in the early 2000s and by 2007 the entire fleet was low-floor and wheelchair accessible. Today the investment is centred around environmentally friendly vehicles. The latest funding will provide the city with 116 new electric buses, 63 hybrids and 75 using latest generation compressed natural gas. The renewal will also cover Barcelona’s 20 diesel-powered double-decker tourist buses, which will be replaced with hybrids. The first 105 arrived in late 2019, this year will see another 75 and in 2021 the final 74. These arrivals will complement the 350 existing hybrid buses already in the fleet. Much of the new fleet will be provided by MAN Truck & Bus Iberia, SA, although in 2020 an order was placed for 14 Solaris Urbino Electric and 9 Irizar iZe electric artics for service on route H16.

 

Left: This small MAN was used in 2010 to transport shoppers from the city centre to the up-market shopping areas. Fitted out in rather lavish style with tables, table lamps with frilly lampshades and window curtains. Right: TCC (Transports Ciutat Comtal) Mercedes Benz Citaro at Plaça de Catalunya in 2019.

The TMB operation is best described as functional with the operational fleet, colour schemes and infrastructure meeting the needs of a modern-day city without any major efforts to promote itself. The city architecture does however provide a wonderful backdrop for the bus photographer providing you can avoid the crowds.     

TMB 3613, Solaris Urbino artic hybrid H18 on the Passeig de Colom segregated busway opposite the marina in 2019.