The 9000 Series is a series of

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...

rolling stock that operates on lines 2, 4, 9 and 10 of the

Barcelona Metro The Barcelona Metro (Catalan and Spanish: ) is an extensive network of rapid transit electrified railway lines that run mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport sys ...

Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) is the main public transit operator in Barcelona. A combination of two formerly-separate companies, ''Ferrocarril Metropolità de Barcelona, SA.'' and ''Transports de Barcelona, SA.'', it runs most of th ...

(TMB) awarded the contract for the construction of the 9000 series to

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

in 2002. Constructed in Belgium, France and Spain, they are part of the Alstom

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

family of underground trains. Today, the 9000 series also operates in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

on the

Santo Domingo Metro The Santo Domingo Metro ( es, Metro de Santo Domingo) is a rapid transit system in Greater Santo Domingo. Serving the capital of the Dominican Republic, it is the most extensive metro system in the insular Caribbean and Central American region by ...

Panama Metro The Panama Metro ( es, Metro de Panamá) is a rapid transit system in Panama City, Panama. It links the south and the east of the metropolitan area to the city center. The metro was inaugurated on April 5, 2014, and it entered revenue service ...

Lima Metro The Lima Metro ( es, Metro de Lima) is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the cities of Lima and Callao, both of which make up the Lima metropolitan area, currently linking the district of Villa El Salvador in the south of Lima wi ...

, and 18 three-car trains of this model on Line 3 of the

Guadalajara light rail system Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalajar ...

Order and entry into service

TMB's contract with Alstom originally specified 50 driverless trains for line 9 only: in July 2005, however, TMB modified the contract to specify 34 semi-automatic trains for lines 2 and 4, and 16 driverless trains for line 9. In April 2009, TMB extended the contract to order 6 additional driverless trains for line 9. 24 trains entered service on Line 2 from 13 March 2008, cascading the 2100 Series to Line 4. 10 trains also entered service on Line 4 with the 2100 Series, replacing the remaining 1000 and 1100 Series trains. The remaining 16 trains entered service on Lines 9 and 10 when the first stages of the lines opened from 13 December 2009, with six more trains to follow when more sections of lines 9 and 10 open.

Design

The trains are capable of speeds of up to . In Barcelona, each train consists of five walk-through cars with longitudinal seating throughout: a five-car train has 112 seats and a three-car train has 64 seats. The end cars contain dedicated spaces for wheelchair users and bicycles. The trains have

closed-circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

and passenger alarms for public safety, visual and audible door indicators, LCD screens for travel information and advertising, and line maps with lights that indicate the next stations. SEC Lighting provided the semi-recessed fluorescent saloon lighting for the trains. The actual train cars are made of aluminum with mostly plastic and metal interior parts. Integral Design and Development was in charge of the exterior and interior design of those vehicles back in 2002, in both driving possibilities, driverless and conventional driver's cab.

Variations

In Barcelona, there are two versions of the 9000 series fleet: *34 trains on lines 2/4 have segregated driver cabs and red dot-matrix running numbers, although passengers can still see through the front. They are capable of manual and automatic operation. *22 trains on lines 9/10 are automatic and driverless. However, driver controls are available if necessary, and they have front-end evacuation ramps and a smaller front window.

Operation

The 9000 Series presently operate on lines 2, 4 (the latter running in conjunction with the 2100 series), 9 and 10. In an unlikely event of a shortage of trains, they may operate on any

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

sections with an overhead power supply.

Roster

Individual cars of the 9000 Series have a four-digit number beginning with 9: originally, the car numbers ranged from 9001 to 9200 for the motor cars, and R9501 to R9550 for the trailer cars, with 50 trains available in total. Due to the order for 6 additional trains in April 2009, and another two in 2019, the numbering ranges for the 9000 Series is currently as follows: In further detail:

9000 Series abroad

Four other metro systems operate the 9000 series or its derivatives, with segregated driver cabs and walk-through cars: the

operates 34 three-car trains with a similar external livery, and the

has operated 19 five-car trains in its own external and internal livery since February 2013. The

is now operating 18 of them on line 3. All of these trains were also manufactured in Belgium, France and Spain. Very similar rolling stock is used in the

. They were all made in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Spain.

9000 Series in culture

The Via Oberta

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petro ...

operates a live steam scale (1:11) version of the 9000 series in the Barcelona Metro livery.

Citations

References

* {{Barcelona Metro line 9 Barcelona Metro Rapid transit in Peru Rapid transit in the Dominican Republic Alstom multiple units Guadalajara light rail system ca:Material rodant del metro de Barcelona#Sèrie 9000 1500 V DC multiple units Rolling stock of Mexico Rapid transit in Panama