Leioa is a station on line 1 of the

Bilbao metro The Bilbao metro ( es, Metro de Bilbao, eu, Bilboko metroa) 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 comb ...

. It is located in the neighborhood of Udondo, in the municipality of

Leioa Leioa ( es, Lejona) is a municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is located south of Getxo and Berango delimitating east and south with Erandio, Portugalete and Sestao. Today it is part of the Bilbao conurbation. Its populat ...

. The station opened as part of the metro on 11 November 1995, replacing an older station. It is located next to a

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...

facility.

History

The station wasn't part of the Bilbao-Las Arenas railway when it opened in 1887. It was built in the mid-twentieth century as an

infill station An infill station (sometimes in-fill station) is a train station built on an existing passenger rail, rapid transit, or light rail line to address demand in a location between existing stations. Such stations take advantage of existing train serv ...

. Starting in 1947, the narrow-gauge railway companies that operated within the

Bilbao metropolitan area The Bilbao Metropolitan Area (in Basque: ''Bilbo Handia'', in Spanish: ''Área metropolitana de Bilbao'') is the metropolitan area or continuous urban area based around the city of Bilbao, in the Basque Country, Spain. It comprises the city of B ...

were merged to become ''

Ferrocarriles y Transportes Suburbanos Ferrocarriles y Transportes Suburbanos (), commonly known by its acronym FTS, was a railway company in the Basque Country, Spain. Founded in 1947 as the merger of various railway companies, it operated several suburban rail lines in the Greater ...

'', shortened FTS and the first precedent of today's

. In 1977, the FTS network was transferred to the public company

FEVE Renfe Feve is a division of state-owned Spanish railway company Renfe Operadora. It operates most of Spain's of railway. This division of Renfe was previously a stand-alone company named FEVE (Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha,Law 11/1965 of ...

and in 1982 to the recently created Basque Railways. In the 1980s it was decided the station, just like most of the former railway line, would be integrated into line 1 of the metro. The new station opened as part of the metro network on 11 November 1995.

Future

In the decade of the 2000s, plans were conceived to create a new tram line, operated by

Euskotren Tranbia Euskotren Tranbia is the brand under which the tramway networks in the cities of Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao (both in the Basque Country, Spain) are run. The system in Bilbao started operations in 2002, and the one in Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2008. It ...

, connecting the station of Leioa with the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, ''EHU''; es, Universidad del País Vasco, ''UPV''; UPV/EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Bilbao, initiall ...

campus, easing the access to the university campus from other areas of the

Greater Bilbao Greater Bilbao ( Basque: ''Bilboaldea'', Spanish: ''Gran Bilbao'') is an administrative division of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven comarcas of Biscay and the most populated one. The capital city of ...

metropolitan area by allowing commuters to use a combination of metro and tram services to reach the campus. The first phase of the project involved the construction of a tram line between the metro station and the university campus, while a future second phase would connect it with the also planned Barakaldo tramway line via a bridge over the Bilbao estuary, which once completed would have been the longest

moveable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

in the world. The first works began in 2010 with the construction of the tram depot and the setting up of the first meters of railway track, both located next to the metro station. The lasting effects of the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

that followed the 2008 financial crisis caused construction to come to a stop in 2012, after a budget for the project could not be allocated. The project has been on hiatus since, as the

Basque Government The Basque Government ( eu, Eusko Jaurlaritza, es, Gobierno Vasco) is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of the Basque government is known as the ''Lehendakari''. The Lehendakari is appointed by the Basque P ...

has not provided any further funding for the project; in 2018 it was stated that there were not any short-term plans to resume construction. Also in 2018, the Basque Government ordered a study to analyze possible alternatives to the tramway.

Station layout

It is an at-grade, open-air station with two side platforms.

Access

* 20px 1, Iturriondo street (''Leioa'' exit) * 20px 20px, Sarbide irisgarria Station's interior * 20px 20px Park-and-ride

Services

The station is served by line 1 from

Etxebarri Etxebarri, Doneztebeko Elizatea ( es, Etxebarri, Anteiglesia de San Esteban) is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Basque Community, in the North of Spain. Since 13 January 2005, the name of "Etxebarri ...

Plentzia Plentzia ( es, Plencia) is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. The town has 4,331 inhabitants (2019). Plentz ...

. The station is also served by local Leioabus and regional Bizkaibus bus services.

References

External links

* {{Metro Bilbao line, line1=yes Bilbao metro stations located above ground Line 1 (Bilbao metro) stations Railway stations opened in 1995 1995 establishments in the Basque Country (autonomous community)