The smell of sunscreen that permeates metro line 4 in summer will mix this year with the confusion usually caused by the informative posters indicating alternative itineraries for works. As of June 26, the central section, between Bogatell and Verdaguer, will be closed to carry out a comprehensive renovation of the track in a three-kilometre section that dates from the 1970s and has reached the end of its useful life. In fact, 67% of the incidents on L4 are concentrated in this section, which has some parts below sea level and is affected by corrosion from seawater.
The magnitude of the work and the impact on citizens make this work the most important in the Catalan capital this summer, as part of the plan to renew the tracks that Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) is carrying out regularly during holiday seasons. This month of July bathers will especially notice it since the beach resorts of Vila Olímpica and Barceloneta will be closed.
From August 1 to 25, the cut will be reduced from six to four stations, from Verdaguer to Barceloneta, in both directions, leaving stations in the city center such as Jaume I, Urquinaona and Passeig de Gràcia closed. Along the entire route, in addition to renewing the track, anti-vibration fixings will be installed on the concrete platform to respond to neighborhood complaints at points of the Gràcia, Consell de Cent and round Sant Pere promenades. To carry out the works, 16.4 million euros will be invested.
Both in July and August there will be an alternative shuttle bus service with articulated vehicles that will go up and down Via Laietana under construction, although the director of the TMB metro network, Òscar Playà, considers that "the best mobility alternative is the metro network itself. Those affected are 65,000 daily travelers in July and 45,000 in August, with special agglomeration when the sun goes down and bathers collect themselves. To this end, TMB will reinforce the service that is usually reduced during the month of August on lines 1, 2 and 5, which is the route recommended by the public operator to redirect those affected through alternative routes using the underground itself.
The cut of metro line 4 will not be the only affectation from June 26. From that day until August 31, the circulation of the T4 Trambesòs line, which goes from Ciutadella Vila Olímpica to Sant Adrià del Besòs passing through Glòries and Diagonal, will also be interrupted, in this case completely. Between Meridiana and Wellington there will be no alternative service since with the university closed for holidays there are few users. From Glòries to Sant Adrià there will be an alternative shuttle bus crossing the Diagonal.
The interruption of the service in Trambesòs is due to the works to extend the tram from Glòries to Verdaguer, a start-up that is expected for next year. During the cut, the existing track layout will be joined with the new infrastructure in the process of being installed. At the same time, the station in front of the Encants will be dismantled and a new one will be built in front of the Disseny Hub Barcelona museum, which in the future will act as an interchange with the metro and buses under the stapler-shaped building.
