SUBSCRIBE: / @barcelonamemory BECOME A MEMBER: / @barcelonamemory WEB: http://barcelonamemory.com/ INSTAGRAM: / barcelonamemory FACEBOOK: / barcelonamemory CONTACT: [email protected] TYPE FOR DONATIONS: https://es.tipeee.com/barcelona-memory SYNOPSIS: The Barcelona Metropolitan Railway, better known as the “Transversal”, was the embryo of the current L1 of the metro network. It originated as a project by the Granada engineer Fernando Reyes Garrido. Reyes wanted to put order in the chaos of the different railway line layouts that, at the beginning of the 20th century, greatly hampered the urban growth of the city. Each railway company had one or more lines that crossed the city, but each one ended at its own terminal station, with no connection to the others. To solve this problem, in 1912 Reyes presented a project for an underground railway that would connect all the lines and stations in the city. Reyes' project also included a branch perpendicular to the sea, which would link with the MZA line to Mataró via the Bogatell and with the port of Barcelona in the opposite direction. This plan would allow the suppression of the stations of Francia and Norte-Vilanova. A central tunnel had to be created that would connect the main broad-gauge railway lines of Barcelona. The tunnel would be built with a 1668 mm Spanish gauge track and 900 V electric traction. The project included a large central station in Plaza Catalunya, divided into two naves: one under the Rondas de Universitat and Sant Pere, and another under the streets Pelai and Fontanella. Both naves would be connected by two branches that would branch off in the plazas Universitat and Urquinaona. The First World War caused financial and political difficulties that delayed the approval of the Barcelona underground railway project. The two main railway companies, MZA and Norte, opposed the project because they feared losing their concession rights. This delay forced the project to be modified in essential points, and it was not finally approved until 1922. The original project for the Barcelona Transversal line was an underground railway that would connect the passenger and freight trains of the MZA and Norte through tunnels, but it was discarded in favour of converting it into an underground railway similar to the one inaugurated in Madrid in 1919. A group of Basque and Catalan investors, headed by Horacio Echevarrieta Maruri and Lluís Marsans Peix, registered the company Ferrocarril Metropolitano de Barcelona, ​​better known as Transversal, on 17 December 1920. The initial route of the line was to be between La Bordeta and the Estación del Norte where it would connect with the MZA line to Granollers and France, and with the Norte lines to Sabadell, Tarrasa, Manresa and Sant Joan de les Abadeses. The construction work began symbolically on 8 June 1922 in the Plaza de España, in the presence of King Alfonso XIII. Around 1924, the company presented a project for a metro network that included seven additional lines to the main one under construction. The company requested the corresponding concession to be able to build these lines. The company soon faced financial problems, which led the Barcelona City Council to buy shares in the company. In a short time, it became the majority shareholder. This fact was key in the decision to municipalise urban transport in the 1950s. In 1923, various setbacks and serious accidents forced the contract with the original construction company to be terminated. The new managers, the engineers Terrades Illa, Planell and Puigoriol, promoted the work and achieved significant progress, but serious accidents continued to be a constant. In 1925, the fruits of the changes made could be clearly seen: the monumentality of the stations, especially that of Spain, with a vault width of 27 metres, the largest in the world at that time. A large metal bridge was also being installed over the tunnel of the Gran Metro (line inaugurated in 1924) at the exit of the future Plaza Catalunya station. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN READING THE FULL TEXT AND SEEING THE PHOTOS, WE REFER YOU TO OUR WEBSITE www.barcelonamemory.com