Alicante Tram

The Alicante Tram, trademarked as Alicante Metropolitan TRAM (Valencian: TRAM Metropolità d'Alacant, Spanish: TRAM Metropolitano de Alicante),[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] operates in the Spanish city of Alicante (Valencian Community) and its surrounding area. Like other narrow gauge railways in the Valencian Community, it is run by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV). It was inaugurated on 15 August 2003 replacing narrow-gauge diesel trains between Alicante and El Campello.

Alicante Metropolitan TRAM
TRAM Metropolità d'Alacant
(in Catalan)
Tram close to Muchavista Beach.
Tram close to Muchavista Beach.
Overview
LocaleAlicante, Valencia, Spain
Transit typeTram
Tram-train
Light rail
Light metro
Commuter rail
Number of lines6
Number of stations71[1]
Daily ridership36,521 (2022)
Annual ridership13,330,253 (2022)[2]
Websitewww.tramalicante.es
Operation
Began operation1999
Operator(s)FGV
Technical
System length111.708 km (69.412 mi)[1]
Track gauge1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
Metropolitan area rate

The Alicante Metropolitan Tram light rail combines different modes of rail services: a partially underground modern tramway through Alicante city centre, a tram-train from Alicante to Benidorm, and conventional commuter rail from Benidorm to Altea, Calp and Dénia.

History

There has been a rich history of urban rail service in Alicante. The tram service began on 13 July 1893 and the network was rapidly expanding to Mutxamel (1902), Elche and Crevillent (1905) and San Vicente del Raspeig (1906). Initially, the streetcars were horse-drawn. Since 1903 the trams were carried as well by the power of steam engine, leading to the disappearance of the horse-drawn trams by 1924. The electrification of tram lines began in 1923. In 1920s and 30s the network was further expanded throughout the city and was extensively used in 1940s. In 1950s, due to high costs of electricity, trams were gradually losing the competition against growing automobile services and by 14 November 1969 they completely disappeared from the streets. Thirty years later, on 13 March 1999 the trams were back with the inauguration of an experimental route between Plaza del Mar and Albufereta that was extended to El Campello in 2003.[3][4]

Lines
Tram at Holanda station on line L4
Flexity Outlook type tram at the station Alicante - La Marina
New MAN 2500 series diesel train at depot near La Marina station
Old MAN 2300 series diesel train in El Campello station

The network comprises the following lines:

Line Terminals Year opened[5] Service type Length[1] Stations[1] Passengers in 2022[2]
Luceros – Benidorm 2007 Tram-train 44.569 km
(27.694 mi)		 20 2,770,781
Luceros – San Vicente del Raspeig 2013 Tram 7.207 km
(4.478 mi)		 14 5,221,172
Luceros – El Campello 2003† Tram-train 14.404 km
(8.950 mi)		 17 2,368,312
Luceros – Pl. La Coruña 2007 Tram 14.609 km
(9.078 mi)		 18 1,535,871
Porta de Mar – Pl. La Coruña 2019 Tram 13.285 km
(8.255 mi)		 17 778,626
Benidorm – Denia 1987† Regional train 50.856 km
(31.600 mi)		 18 655,491

† Notes: What is now L3 was opened initially in 1999 as an experimental service between Porta del Mar and Albufereta, and was extended to El Campello in 2003. L9 was originally taken over by FGV in 1987, and was incorporated into the tram network upon its opening.[5]

L1

L1 is a limited-stop service from Alicante city centre to Benidorm taking 70 minutes journey time. In Benidorm it connects with line L9 to Denia.[6]

L2

L2 starts from the city centre to the General Hospital of Alicante, the University of Alicante and San Vicente del Raspeig, with a journey time of 28 minutes.

L3

L3 is a stopping service from Alicante to El Campello.

L4

L4 runs from the city centre to a loop in Playa de San Juan district.

L5

L5 starts at Porta del Mar to Sangueta, then following the L4 loop in Playa de San Juan district. It was opened in 2019, using former alignment from Porta del Mar and Sangueta that was used prior to the opening of the city centre tunnel to Luceros.[7]

L9

L9 is diesel powered commuter rail service from Benidorm along the coast to Denia, stopping at other important tourist towns like Altea and Calp. Services are subject to disruption due to engineering works as the line is prepared for electrification.

Shared Central Section

Lines L1, L2, L3 and L4 share the city centre underground section between MARQ and the city centre Luceros station. The Mercado station on the segment was opened on 10 May 2007 and the Luceros was opened on 18 June 2010.

Utilisation

In 2022, the network served more than 13 million passengers. The busiest stations were Luceros (2,110,810 passengers), Mercado (1,367,514), Benidorm (731,051), San Vicente del Raspeig (686,983) and El Campello (540,622).[2]

Line 9 route in 2023

Future expansion

The underground section is planned to continue westward to Estación Multimodal serving the Adif station (and a possible relocation of the bus station). This was originally delayed, but in April 2022 President of the Valencian Government Ximo Puig committed funds to progress this extension.[8]

On the other hand, there are plans to extend the tram-train service in different places:[9]

  • New Line 6, from Estación Intermodal to Hospital of San Vicente del Raspeig
  • New line to the neighborhoods in the south of the city
  • New line to San Juan and Muchamiel
  • New line between Torrevieja and Orihuela
  • New line between Elche and the Airport

Underground Stations

Ground Stations

See also

Notes
  1. Pronunciation:
    • Valencian: [ˈtɾam metɾopoliˈta ðalaˈkant].
    • Spanish: [ˈtɾam metɾopoliˈtano ðe aliˈkante].
  2. Local nicknames:
    • El Tram (Valencian: [el ˈtɾam], Spanish: [el ˈtɾan]), "The Tram".

References
  1. "TRAM Network data". FGV. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  2. "El Tram de Alicante logra la mayor cifra de viajeros de su historia en 2022". Información (in Spanish). 14 January 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  3. "Alicante, de la diligencia al TRAM". Cátedra Demetrio Ribes (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  4. "El tranvía y nuestra ciudad". Alicante Vivo (in Spanish). 28 July 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  5. "TRAM Historical evolution". FGV. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  6. "Ticket zone map" (PDF). TRAM. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  7. "New tram connection improves links for Alicante to Porta del Mar and Playa de San Juan". English Radio News. 9 June 2019.
  8. "Así será la estación del Tram de Alicante en Renfe". Alicante Plaza (in Spanish). 21 April 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  9. "Ximo Puig anuncia que las obras de la nueva estación intermodal se licitarán a principios de 2023". FGV (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2023.
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