The Bilbao Metro (, ) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Bilbao and the region of Greater Bilbao. Lines 1 and 2 have a "Y" shape, as they transit both banks of the river Ibaizabal and then combine to form one line that ends in the south of Bilbao. Line 3 connects the higher neighbourhoods to the east of Bilbao. All three current lines meet at Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo station. The Metro is connected with the Bilbao tram, Bilboko Aldiriak (commuter rail services), Euskotren Trena (commuter rail services), Feve (commuter rail services, regional and long-distance trains), Renfe long-distance trains, and Bilbao's bus station (Bilbao Intermodal). All three lines use metre gauge.
, the Metro operates on of route, with 48 stations. It is the third-busiest metro in Spain, after the Madrid and Barcelona metro systems. The system was inaugurated in 1995, partially taking over a suburban railway line operated by Euskotren, first opened in 1887. A second line was added in 2002, running together with Line 1 within Bilbao, and then serving towns along the left bank of the Ibaizabal-Nervion estuary. Lines 1 and 2 are operated by Metro Bilbao, a company owned by the . Line 3, operated by Euskotren, opened in 2017. Unlike the first two lines, which form an isolated system, Line 3 is operated jointly with the Euskotren Trena commuter railway network.
Lines and stations
Lines Line Terminals LengthStationsOperator Plentzia–Etxebarri 29 Metro Bilbao Kabiezes–Basauri 25 Matiko–Kukullaga 7EuskotrenTOTAL 48
Stations
The main station of the network is Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo, the only one in which all three lines meet. Since Line 3 is operated as part of the wider Euskotren Trena network, the station is also the main hub for Euskotren's commuter railway services in Bilbao. Other important interchange stations are Abando (connections to Cercanías and Feve commuter railway lines and Renfe's long distance services) and San Mamés (connections to Cercanías and the main bus terminal). Urbinaga station on Line 2 was built as a future interchange station with two Cercanías commuter rail lines. However, , the commuter rail station is not yet built, having been postponed several times.
Additionally, the Bilbao tram has stops near the San Mamés, Abando and Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo stations. Besides this, most stations have several bus connections.
Network map
Connections
Bolueta Euskotren TRAM: Line A. Bizkaibus: Lines A2610, A3613, A3622, A3932. Bilbobus: Line 30 (only Sundays until 3:00 PM) and line 40. Basarrate Bilbobus: Lines 13, 34, 40, 43, 48 lines and G7 night line. Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo (Old Town) Euskotren TRAIN: Lines E1 (Amara-Donostia), E3 (Lezama) and E4 (Bermeo) Euskotren TRAM: Line A (Bolueta - La Casilla) Bilbobus: Lines 11, 22, 62, A9 lines and, G4 and G8 night lines. Abando Renfe Cercanías: Lines C-1 (Santurtzi), C-2 (Muskiz), C-3 (Orduña/Llodio) and C-4 (Balmaseda) Renfe Long and Medium Distance: Long distance (Madrid, Barcelona, Miranda de Ebro) Euskotren TRAM: Line A (La Casilla - Bolueta) Renfe Cercanías AM : R-3f (Bilbao-Concordia / Santander), R-3b (Bilbao-Concordia / Carranza) and T-1 (Transacantábrico) Bizkaibus : Lines A2314, A2322, A2324, A3115, A3122, A3136, A3137, A3144, A3151, A3223, A3336, A3340, A3514, A3515, A3911, A3912, A3917 and A3925. Bilbobus : Lines 01, 03, 10, 28, 30, 40, 56, 58, 62, 71, 72, 75, 77, 85, A1, A2, A5, A7, A9 lines and G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, G7 and G8 night lines (Gautxori) San Mamés Renfe Cercanías : Lines C-1 (Bilbao-Abando / Santurtzi) and C-2 (Bilbao-Abando / Muskiz). Euskotren Tranbia : Line A (La Casilla - Bolueta). Bilbao Intermodal (central long-distance bus station). San Ignazio Bilbobus: Lines 10, 13, 18 and 71. Lutxana Euskotren Trena (TRAIN): Shuttle line E3a (Lutxana - Sondika)
In addition, most other stations have connections to different bus lines.
History
Background and early proposals
The first proposal for building a metro system in Bilbao was made in the 1920s. The network was planned to have two lines connecting Atxuri station with the westernmost parts of the city (at the time), each running via a different route. Banco Español de Crédito, which was to have backed the project financially, withdrew in 1925; rendering the project infeasible. The proposal for a metro system was definitively abandoned after the civil war.
In 1971 the government of Biscay, the Bilbao City Council and the Commerce Bureau created a commission to evaluate the transportation needs of Greater Bilbao. In 1974, the Spanish government pledged to give financial support to a metro project.
In 1976, the was created. Two years later, in 1977, three proposals were made to build a metro line by 1985. Of these proposals, the first one was almost identical to the current network. The project for the construction of a metro was approved in 1977. However, many objections were raised against it, which together with disagreements between different institutions put the project on hold.
In 1983 the Basque Government approved a plan for transportation on the right bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, but its execution was delayed. The document was rewritten in 1985, and in 1987 the plan to build and fund the Metro was approved.
A company, Metro Bilbao, was established on 18 February 1993 with a capital of 10 million pesetas and the Biscay Transport Consortium as its only shareholder. It is owned by the Biscay Transport Consortium, itself dependent on the Basque Government and the . The ownership of the metro infrastructure is shared by the Biscay Transport Consortium and Euskal Trenbide Sarea. The Basque narrow-gauge railway network in which the Bilbao Metro has its origins (Line 1 took over most of the existing Bilbao-Plentzia railway) had been managed by Basque Railways (known as Euskotren after 1996) since 1982. However, a separate company was established to manage the metro.
The management of the Metro system by an independent company was a result of the 1975 law that established the Biscay Transport Consortium and the 1983 Law of Historical Territories. The creation of a separate company has been criticized as a political decision that left Basque Railways in a weaker position (the Bilbao-Plentzia line was the busiest of its network) and that hindered the reuse of existing infrastructures (particularly in the Txorierri line).
Construction
A metro system was deemed to be the best way to improve congestion problems in the evolving and regenerating city. The design for the underground stations was awarded to the architects Sir Norman Foster and partners in 1988 following an open competition.
The construction of the first line involved converting to rapid transit standards Euskotren's existing suburban railway line between San Ignazio and Plentzia. The first works started in late 1988, with the existing Erandio station being put underground. In the city itself, a new tunnel was built between San Ignazio and Casco Viejo. The central Plaza Elíptica was closed to pedestrians from 1990 to 1997 due to construction activity. The works were especially complicated in the neighborhoods of Deusto and San Inazio, where the cut and cover tunnel excavation slightly damaged some buildings, was very noisy, and caused severe traffic disruptions. This method of excavation contrasted with the tunnel-boring machines used elsewhere in the city.
Line 1 The first stretch of Line 1 was opened on 11 November 1995, with 23 stations between Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo and Plentzia. The tracks outside Bilbao were previously part of Euskotren's Bilbao-Plentzia line, with parts of the alignment dating from 1887.
By 5 July 1997 the total number of stations was 27 as Santutxu, Basarrate and Bolueta joined Gobela which had opened the previous year.
After the conversion of the Bilbao-Plentzia railway into a rapid transit line, two level crossings remained. The works to remove the first, in the Maidagan neighborhood of Getxo, lasted from 2010 to 2012. The other remaining level crossing, located in Urduliz, was removed between 2015 and 2017; the works involved the construction of a new underground station in Urduliz. In 2020, Ibarbengoa station opened to the public. It was built in 2012, at the same time as the Maidagan level crossing was put underground, but the opening was delayed until its park and ride facilities were built.
Line 2
The first line, which runs north of the estuary, was later joined by a second line serving the southern bank of the river. It shares tracks with Line 1 within Bilbao, splitting at San Ignazio, from where it runs to Santurtzi. The first five stations (Gurutzeta/Cruces, Ansio, Barakaldo, Bagatza and Urbinaga) opened on 13 April 2002. The line was extended northwards to Sestao and eastwards to Etxebarri (Etxebarri is also served by Line 1) in early 2005. To the north, Portugalete and Abatxolo opened in 2007; followed by Peñota and Santurtzi in 2009. Two more stations were added to the south in 2011: Ariz in February and Basauri in November. The final extension took place in 2014, with the opening of Kabiezes as the northern terminus of the line.
Line 3 Following the commencement of works in the middle of 2009, it was inaugurated on 8 April 2017. It cost 279 million euros, significantly more than the original 153 million euro budget. and was expected to transport 71,000 people according to Bilbao council. The third line has a length of and has one station in Etxebarri: Kukullaga-Etxebarri, and six stations in Bilbao: Otxarkoaga, Txurdinaga, Zurbaranbarri, Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo, Uribarri and Matiko. Euskotren Trena operates the line and also provides commuter rail services along it. That was the original intention when Line 3 was tendered in 2009, but it was later announced that Metro Bilbao would be the operator. In 2013, Euskotren was reconfirmed as the operator.
Future
Extensions to existing lines The construction of a new depot in Ortuella was proposed in 2010. Together with the construction of the depot, a new station could be built, extending Line 2 from Kabiezes. Further extensions to the line have been tentatively discarded.
Line 1 might be extended eastwards to Sarratu, in Basauri. This station will provide an interchange with the Euskotren Trena suburban rail network. The station will be built together with Line 5 of the metro, originally proposed as an extension of Line 1, but which will ultimately be built as an extension of Line 3. Consequently, Sarratu will become the eastern terminus of Line 1.
There are plans to extend Line 3 to the airport, taking advantage of the double-tracked tunnel built under Mount Artxanda opened in 2017. The first phase would involve rebuilding Sondika station in order to allow trains on the Txorierri line to travel between Matiko and Lezama without the need to reverse. In a second phase, a new underground branch would be built under the runway from Sondika to the airport terminal.
Line 4 project The preliminary layout of the future Line 4 (Eliptikoa/Rekalde) was presented on 25 January 2008. The preliminary layout suggests that Eliptikoa Station, which gives service to Line 1 and Line 2, will connect with Rekalde with two intermediate stations: Zabalburu (which has a suburban rail station) and Irala. There have been discussions about the ramifications of whether to connect with either Eliptikoa Station or Bilbao Abando Station, this is due to the fact that Rekalde did not have a Metro connection. Line 3 was planned to connect Rekalde with the rest of the city, but the final plan moved the line in another direction.Iñaki Azkuna: «El metro podría llegar a Rekalde desde Moyua». El Correo