Málaga Metro


The Málaga Metro is a light metro network in Málaga, Spain. It was proposed during the 1990s to ease the crippling congestion when the Ministry of Public Works and Transport commissioned a study in 2001 into the feasibility of constructing a metro system in the city. The plan had four lines, radiating from the city centre, with stations roughly apart to allow a high level of accessibility, with funding for the project coming from both the local and the Spanish governments. The system was originally scheduled to open on 31 October 2013.
Two lines finally opened in service on 30 July 2014.
The current plan is for a total of six lines, connecting the most populated suburbs to the city centre.

Lines

Here are the most important features of the two lines:

Route

Both lines run underground in the city centre. Line 1 goes from there to the University of Málaga. Between Clínico station and the Andalucía Tech terminus, it runs on the surface, which includes some at-grade intersections.
Line 2 runs entirely underground, from the city centre to the Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena.

Future

An extension of Line 1 from El Perchel further into the city centre with two underground stops, Guadalmedina and Atarazanas, is under construction and due to open at the earliest in 2022. By extending the metro closer to the city centre, patronage is expected to reach 18 million annually.
Line 2 will share El Perchel and Guadalmedina stations with Line 1, then was originally to emerge above ground and continue with four surface-level stops to Hospital Civil. The completion date for this extension is currently unknown, and this extension is predicted to increase overall annual patronage of the metro to 20.5 million. In 2019, the scope of the project was amended to a fully underground alignment from Guadalmedina to Hospital Civil.

Rolling stock

All trains are Urbos 3, manufactured by the Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles. They are fully covered by CCTV and are throughout air-conditioned in an effort to provide security and comfort to a full capacity train car of 56 seated passengers with 170 standing. The capacity figure is accurate for likely peak-time usage, but the trains are also fully accessible to disabled passengers, who may slightly decrease capacity.
The trains are already in successful widespread use in other cities, including 30 on trams in Belgrade, with 40 are also planned for the Cuiabá system, in Brazil. Málaga's metro, however, represents the largest single order.