Robert Schwandl’s Urban Rail Blog: GRANADA

Typical surface stop

I explored the line on a normal
workday, first going to Albolote on the northern section, which was
reasonably used in the late morning, so an off-peak headway of 10
minutes seemed appropriate. As I worked my way south the trams got
very packed around lunchtime (e.g. around 2pm in Spain), and a denser
headway seemed necessary. The southern section seemed much busier
anyway as it not only serves some university faculties, but also a
huge new shopping mall “Nevada” which generates a lot of
ridership. So I felt that maybe at certain times a reinforcement line
should be established, maybe between Estación de Autobuses and
Sierra Nevada to operate a 5-minute headway on the central stretch.
But I fear (but have no idea) that the operating contract with Avanza
does not really consider any option to increase the service
frequency, just like in Zaragoza where they also became victim of
their own success and I think they still haven’t increased the number
of trams in operation.

What they call “Metropolitano
de Granada” is, of course, a typical modern tram, which includes
three underground stations. In fact, the term ‘metropolitano’
initially appeared because the line not only serves the city of
Granada but also some towns outside, which belong to the metropolitan
area, such as Armilla, Maracena and Albolote, with others already
asking for the tram to be extended, so the project was presented as
“Tranvía metropolitano”.

Lowering pantograph just west of Fernando de los Ríos

Basically the Granada tram follows
all the parameters we know from modern French tramways, i.e. a
separate right-of-way or at least a marked-off road alignment
throughout, no mixed operation, not even with buses. The line is
double-track throughout, except for a short section at the southern
end in Armilla, which certainly limits possible denser headways.
There are quite a large number of crossovers so trams can turn back
in case of disruptions. The single-track section in Armilla as well
as two other short sections (Hípica – Andrés Segovia; Villarejo – Caleta) were built
without overhead wires and the trams draw energy from supercapacitors
like in Sevilla and Zaragoza. But here I think it was more of a
capricho than a necessity, the section in Armilla is through a
pedestrianised street but which I didn’t really find as nice as to
protect it from ugly wires, the same is true for the wireless section
in Granada. 

Catenary-free section in Armilla

While travel speed is reasonable on most sections and
traffic-light priority works fine, the section between Sierra Nevada
and Fernando de los Ríos has to be operated a maximum speed of just
20 km/h as the trams run through a narrow street and cars may
occasionally invade the tram reservation.

Generally the chosen alignment
covers important parts of the city, but what surprises at first sight
is that it does not run through what one would consider the most
logical axis through the city centre (Avenida de la Constitución, Gran Vía de Colón, Calle Reyes Católicos, Acera del Darro – served by the LAC bus), and
instead runs on a more peripherical western route (Camino de Ronda).
And being underground on this “Old Town Bypass”, an average
tourist will probably not even notice that Granada now has a tram
system. So if the line does not run through the Old Town, did it
really need a tunnel? Camino de Ronda used to be the major
north-south road to get through the city, but this has meanwhile been
pushed further west to motorway A-44 (which itself is getting a
relief motorway even further west…), so I’d say, that a surface
route was also have been possible here. But planning was carried out
at a time when money seemed to flow endlessly in Spain and many,
still unfinished, infrastructure projects were launched. 

Luckily,
Granada’s was eventually finished, while its neighbour Jaén still
struggles with finding an operating scheme before opening its 5 km
tram line which has lain idle and ready to operate since 2011!!
(there are hopes, though…).

All the surface stops follow a
standard pattern, which looks plain but attractive. There is a ticket
machine on each platform, and a board with a map and some information
about fares. Although operating hours are listed, there is no hint
about the tram’s scheduled frequency. There are electronic next-tram
indicators which worked fine while I was there, in fact, when the
countdown shows “2 min.”, the tram is about to arrive at
the stop. Except for the two termini and the underground stations,
all the stops have side platforms, which at 60m would be long enough
for double sets. The stop’s name is visible in various ways, one of
them vertically on a totem which is crowned by a nice M-Logo.

I would classify the three
underground stations as sober, functional with a stylish touch. In
fact these are simple cut-and-cover boxes with a mezzanine at either
end and an island platform on level -2, although at Méndez Núñez
and Alcázar Genil, only the southern access is currently open, the
northern serving as an emergency exit. From the street, there are
several covered entrances leading to the mezzanine, at least with
up-going escalators. Of course, also lifts are available, but
lift-users have to change lifts on mezzanine level to walk through
the tickets gates. 

Alcázar Genil is somewhat different as it
features some remains of an ancient water deposit (albercón), but
this is only recognisable if you know about it (there is an
information panel explaining it), otherwise it looks like a station
left unfinished in bare concrete. What makes the underground stations
look somewhat stylish is the backlit station name on the raw piles
which were driven into the ground to create the outer walls. For the
rest the platform level is sober and somewhat dark, there are some
stone benches which seem to store Granada’s morning cold, but will
probably be pleasant to sit on in hot summer. 

The trams travel at
considerable speed between the underground stations, while the
northern ramp, which follows a sharp curve in tunnel, is negotiated
at low speed. Especially in the underground stations, a 10-minute
headway feels a bit too long. Recogidas is the most centrally located
station, but also Mendez Nunez gets busy with a large Corte Inglés
department store nearby. All in all, however, the chosen route also
has its share of passengers, including the many students at
Universidad and in the future also the railway station (Estación de
Ferrocarril). But with a tunnel already decided, I would have
included Hípica station on the underground route as the ramp is
somewhat intrusive in a narrow street, while roads become rather wide
a bit further down the line. On the other hand, the city layout would
suggest a branch leading east from Hípica and that would certainly
be easier on the surface, In Tenerife, however, exactly those
junctions were put underground to avoid any delays at road
intersections. In fact, the intersection in question was the only one
where I had the feeling that the tram cannot ask for priority but has
to wait for the general traffic-light cycle to give it a ‘go’ sign.
One major issue, though not specific to Granada, are the countless
roundabouts the trams have to traverse, though luckily cars are
stopped by special traffic lights. Having also used a car in Granada,
I consider this extremely dangerous as roundabouts are always a
certain challenge if busy and multi-lane, and then suddenly while in
it, you may be stopped by a red light. I guess there have been a few
crashes. I wonder if it is a good idea to combine trams with
roundabouts. I imagine that this may create quite some traffic chaos
as soon as the frequency is increased. Now with a tram only every 10
minutes in each direction it seems to work fine, though.

The CAF Urbos trams are pretty much
the same as those in Málaga, except for some red at the doors
instead of green, and decorated on the outside with local themes.
Luckily they decided for the wide 2.65 m version which makes them
look quite spacious inside although they do get packed easily. The
interior is quite plain but bright. The seats are maybe a bit hard
although the trams run quite smoonthly despite the grooved rail. The
interior features all sorts of info devices including a strip map
above the doors with illuminated stops. So, nothing to complain on
this side, well, besides the Bombardier Flexity, the CAF Urbos is my
favourite tram anyway…

Although the big Spanish cities
have long had quite a good integrated transport system when it comes
to fares, Andalusia is only learning slowly about this. So like in
Sevilla and Málaga, the tram initially has its own fares, but free
transfer to buses within a certain time will fortunately be
introduced soon as I could learn from the local papers. Most local
people use an electronic card which either carries a season ticket or
stored value, so pretty everyone needs to tap in as they enter the
tram. Single or return tickets are issued on a credit-card style
paper ticket which also incorporates a chip, so you need to validate
it on boarding. The same is true for a day pass called Turista
(basically useful for tram enthusiasts only, I guess…), it shows
the day of validity printed on the back side, but as I wasn’t sure, I
tapped in each time, too, so other passengers may not think I travel
without paying… A day pass, which is valid just for this single
line, costs 4.50€, quite a price considering that with a
stored-value ticket (targeta monedero) you just pay 82 cents. Single tickets carry a
surcarge for the electronic one-use ticket, so the total comes to
1.65€, still cheap for most European cities, but expensive for
Spain. On the buses you can buy a single ticket from the driver for
1.40€ allowing you to transfer to other buses within 90 minutes. 

 

At
underground stations the tickets have to be hold against the reader
on entry and on exit, the latter probably a way to avoid fare evasion
with people getting on the tram on the surface, so they wouldn’t get
outside in one of the central stations, although jumping the barriers
would be quite easy. There are some security people around, but not
too many, and they didn’t say anything when they saw me taking photos
(I mention this because people have reported problems in Málaga and
some Spanish security staff sometimes get too serious, but usually
just tell you that taking photos is not allowed, no US-style
detentions to be feared!).

So, all in all, a good system which
certainly will become very successful, maybe too successful. But
looking at the city map, I hope more lines will be added soon and
frequencies on the first line will be increased at least at busier
times.

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