Users of metro line 4 add to the suffocating heat of these days the discomfort caused by transfers, alternative buses and all the paraphernalia usually associated with service cuts due to works. This summer it was the turn of the yellow line, the one that at this time of year tends to smell like sunscreen, although yesterday morning the majority of those affected were people who went with their backpacks on their way to work and the beach was in the memory of the weekend or on the horizon of a vacation still far away.
Until the end of August, the classic waves of tourists who get off at Barceloneta station are replaced by the machinery that completely renews three kilometers of the infrastructure between Verdaguer and Bogatell, where almost three out of every four incidents suffered by L4 are concentrated. From August 1 to 25, the impact will be reduced from six stations to four and Ciutadella and Barceloneta will be recovered to the delight of the beachgoers.
The bulk of passengers, more than in the intermediate stations, is concentrated at both ends of the cut, especially in Verdaguer, where they are forced to get off the convoys and an army of informers diverts them towards the best alternative. The shuttle buses that run along the affected route in both directions are the most attractive on the street. In the early hours there were some queues that did not increase for the rest of the day, with half-empty vehicles at mid-morning, where passengers recognized that they had opted for this alternative more out of inertia than anything else.
Longer journeys are much more convenient to do on the metro itself, using the rest of the lines, even if that lengthens the travel time. To absorb this greater volume of passengers, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has reinforced lines 1, 2 and 5.
"Wasn't there a better time to do it?" asked some young women who have already finished exams and are on their way to the beach. The truth is that no. If you look at the L4 passenger statistics, no matter how bulky the umbrellas are and the smell of sunscreen is intense, the months of July and August are the months with the least demand of the year. The numerous tourists do not even come close to the large number of trips that locals stop making when they go on vacation.
The usual thing in cuts of this magnitude is for a representative of the City Council or TMB to appear, but yesterday both the recently landed municipal government and the public company opted for silence.
The metro cut is also added to the T4 tram line, which runs along the Diagonal from Glòries to Besòs, until August 31. In this case, an alternative bus partially covers the effects derived from the works to extend the tramway to Verdaguer, which will also entail the relocation of the stop in the square.
