COUNTRY | Spain
REGION | Europe
SECTOR | transport
SUB-SECTORS | rail, roads, bridges and tunnels, buildings and structures, tourism and arts, urban infrastructure
QII Principles | Principle 2 Economic Efficiency, Principle 3 Environmental Considerations, Principle 4 Building Resilience
QII Sub-Principles | 2: Operation and maintenance, 2: Technological innovation, 3: Ecosystems, 3: Biodiversity, 3: Climate, 5: Social Impact Assessment, 5: Universal access to services, 6: Growth & development strategies, 6: Institutional Framework of infrastructure investment, 6: Transparency of infrastructure investment
Overview
The Sagrera railway station is a major through station under construction in Barcelona. It is intended to serve as the central station for north-eastern Spain for High-Speed rail system and international and regional rail network. Once fully completed, it will be a major public transport hub, with 3 dedicated stations on Barcelona Metro network, as well as a bus station. The complex will be fully underground excepting for the station building, with two levels of platforms, accounting for a total of 18 railway tracks. This station is part of a larger urban redevelopment project along the corridor formed by the railways accessing Barcelona from the north-east. This project includes the rebuilding of Sant Andreu Comtal railway station, to the north of Sagrera, and the construction of a 3.7-kilometre-long linear artificial park over the railways running on the corridor, which will be put underground.
ADIF (the company in charge of railway infrastructures in Spain and dependent on the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda) is carrying out the construction of the station. To coordinate the entire action, which includes urban improvements, new green areas and connecting tracks, among other elements, Barcelona Sagrera Alta Velocitat (Barcelona Sagrera High Speed) was created. It is a public partnership made up of the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, the regional Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council.
Timeline
The execution of the works began in 2009, but they were stopped from 2015 to 2018 and now they are expected to open completely in 2023.
The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda reached an agreement in 2016 with the regional government and the Barcelona City Council to reduce the costs of the station from 820 million euros to a maximum of 650 million.
The station's current budget is funded with 255 million from the Catalonia regional government public budget (40%), 30 million from the urban development capital gains developed by the City Council (4.6%) and 365 million from the competition to be held by ADIF (Ministry of transport) for the 6,000 square meters of commercial space in the station lobby to be managed over a period of 60 years (55.4%). This scheme has been used to finance the construction of different railroad stations in Spain. The commercial operation of stations is a model used in the main railroad stations in Spain and serves to finance their construction and maintenance. This model is managed by ADIF through the brand Vialia.
Relevance to QII
The Sagrera Station is a clear example of QII due to its strategic role at a national and international level (reduction of travel times, or improvement in international frequencies, among others), and also at a city level (greater cohesion, increase in green areas and housing). In addition, it will allow Barcelona to reaffirm itself as an international platform for economic activity.
It is also a reference in QII for its financing model, through a partnership involving three public administrations (national, regional and local governments). The financing is obtained from public budgets, urban gains and future revenues from the commercial exploitation of the station.
Metrics
The annual passenger forecast for the station is 92 million passengers (including all services. The figure is the sum of users expected for the High Speed trains (22.5 million), regional trains (39 million), metro (15.5 million) and users who use the bus or access the station by private vehicle or taxi, which is estimated at 12.2 million people.
Name of Institution
- Ministry of Transport
- Mobility and the Urban Agenda of Spain
Website URL