Provença and Diagonal are two connected

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

stations that form a major

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bus ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Eixample The Eixample (, ) is a district of Barcelona between the old city (Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns (Sants, Gràcia, Sant Andreu, etc.), constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its population was 262,000 at ...

district. Provença is served by the FGC-operated Line 6 and Line 7 of the

Barcelona Metro The Barcelona Metro (Catalan language, Catalan and Spanish language, Spanish: ) is a rapid transit network that runs mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport system ...

and the suburban rail lines S1 and S2 of the Barcelona-Vallès Line. Diagonal is an important

interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additional ...

of the

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-operated

network, served by Line 3 and Line 5. The underground station complex spans beneath several major streets, including

Rambla de Catalunya Rambla de Catalunya (; ) is a major street in the ''Eixample'' district of central Barcelona, Spain. It is one of the city's trendiest streets, with many international fashion shops, and is lined with lime trees. The street stretches from Pla ...

Passeig de Gràcia Passeig de Gràcia () is one of the major avenues in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) and one of its most important shopping and business areas, containing several of the city's most celebrated pieces of architecture. It is located in the central pa ...

and

Carrer de Balmes ''Carrer de Balmes'' (), named after the Catalan philosopher and ecclesiastic Jaume Balmes, is one of the most important avenues in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). It was devised in 1859 as part of Ildefons Cerdà urban plan. Balmes is along '' ...

. These streets intersect both

Avinguda Diagonal Avinguda Diagonal (; in Spanish language, Spanish: Avenida Diagonal) is the name of one of Barcelona's broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally with respect to the grid pattern of the surrounding streets, hence th ...

and ''Carrer de Provença'', after which the stations are named. Diagonal was the second most used station of the

-operated

lines in 2024, with over 16 million passengers.

Location

The station's three sets of platforms are connected by an underground corridor under ''Carrer de Rosselló''.

Provença

The FGC station is physically located beneath

, between streets of ''Provença'' and ''Rosselló''. The station features an entrance hall with fare gates at each end of the platforms, with two accesses to either side of

in each of them. The station hall on the ''Rosselló'' side features the connection corridor to the

-operated metro lines, with Line 5 being closer.

Diagonal

The Line 5 platforms are located beneath ''Carrer del Rosselló'', in the intersection with

. The connection corridor between the different lines runs over Line 5's platforms and links the station's fare gates and entrance halls. The station has two accesses, one on each side of

. The Line 3 platforms are located beneath

, between ''Rosselló'' and

(a space commonly known as ''Cinc d'Oros''). The station features two entrance halls, one at each end of the platforms, with entrances on either side of

. The station hall on the ''Rosselló'' side features the connection corridor to the other lines, with Line 5 being closer.

History

Provença

Provença originally opened 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 ser ...

of the Tren de Sarrià on August 18, 1882. The line had been in service since 1863 and crossed the streets of

at grade, with the right of way along

. As the population of the

district grew in the 1870s, construction of a station by the intersection with ''Carrer de Provença'' was considered by the line's operator, ''Ferrocarril de Sarrià a Barcelona''. The station project was initially presented in 1876. As traffic on the line grew, the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

and operator reached an agreement to rebuild the line's urban section in

as an underground line. Works began in 1926 and Provença was inaugurated as a rebuilt underground station on March 27, 1929. The station entered service on April 27, shortly before the

1929 Barcelona International Exposition The 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (also 1929 Barcelona Universal Exposition, or Expo 1929, officially in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Exposición Internacional de Barcelona 1929'') was the second World's fair, World Fair to be held in ...

was held in the city. The underground station was built on the same site as the original surface station, with a single access in ''Carrer de Provença''. As the Line 5 station was opened in 1969, a new access was built in ''Carrer de Rosselló'' to connect Provença to the

stations. The station was refurbished in 1983, as

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (, "Catalan Government Railways"; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Ferrocarriles de la Generalidad de Cataluña''), or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain. The lines operated include metro and commu ...

took over operation of the Barcelona-Vallès line. The station's platforms were expanded in 1995 to allow for longer trains. The connection corridor with the

lines was expanded between 2005 and 2009 to allow for the installation of

moving walkways A moving walkway – also known as an autowalk, moving pavement, moving sidewalk, travolator, or travelator – is a slow-moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane, over a short to medium distance. T ...

. In 2003,

platform screen doors Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail ...

were installed in part of the platform for

Sarrià Sarria is a municipality in the province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain. Sarria or Sarrià may also refer to: *Sarrià, Barcelona, a neighbourhood in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain **Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, the Barcelona district containing Sarrià **Sarrià ...

-bound trains, in an attempt to alleviate the overcrowding problems in the station. The platform screen doors only work during

peak hours A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

. The station's wall was excavated in 2019 to further expand the platform and deal with the overcrowding issue.

Diagonal

* The Line 3 station opened in 1924 as part of the initial section of the ''Gran Metropolitano de Barcelona'', the first

line. The station's original name was ''Diagonal-Paseo de Gracia'', although it was frequently simplified to ''Diagonal'' on official signage and diagrams. The name was officially changed to the current ''Diagonal'' with the system-wide reorganization in 1982. A new station access was built in 1969 to connect to the Line 5 station and to Provença. The station was refurbished in 2009, as part of the renovation works to improve connection between the different lines in the transport hub. *The Line 5 station was opened in 1969, originally with the name ''Rambla de Cataluña''. It was the initial terminus of a new line that ran from Collblanc. In 1970, the line was extended towards La Sagrera, where it was connected to an existing branch line to form Line 5. In 1982, the station's name was changed to the current ''Diagonal'', matching the Line 3 station.

Future Tram connection

The final stretch of the planned Barcelona Tram extension along

features a new stop in the intersection with

. The stop's tentative name is 'Diagonal Cinc d'Oros'. The 2 kilometer stretch would link the currently unconnected

Trambesòs Trambesòs () is a tram–light rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia that links the Barcelona district of Sant Martí with Badalona and Sant Adrià de Besòs. Its name comes from the union of the words "tram", an abbrevi ...

and

Trambaix The Trambaix () is one of Barcelona's three tram systems. It is operated by TRAMMET connecting the Baix Llobregat area with the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It opened to the public on 5 April 2004 after a weekend when the tram could be us ...

networks. The

Barcelona City Council The City Council of Barcelona ( Catalan: ''Ajuntament de Barcelona''; Spanish: ''Ayuntamiento de Barcelona'') is the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. In terms of political structure, ...

has announced plans to divide the project in two phases, with the first phase reaching the Diagonal Cinc d'Oros stop. Current plans to remodel

prior to the project's start wouldn't allow for the Tram to reach

before 2027.

Gallery

File:Estació Diagonal L5 octubre 2023.jpg, Platforms of Line 5 File:Barcelona - Estació de Diagonal-Provença (7482518534).jpg, The connection corridor between Line 3, Line 5 and the FGC station File: Espai Mercè Sala Joan Miró (2).JPG, Espai Mercè Sala, an exhibition hall found inside the connection corridor File:Barcelona - Estació de Diagonal-Provença (7482568314).jpg, The

visible at the FGC platform File:CartellProvenca.jpg, The FGC station sign at Provença File:202201_L3_Platform_of_Diagonal_station.jpg, Platforms of Line 3 File:L'Eixample - 001.jpg, A mural by

Josep Maria Subirachs Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar (; 11 March 1927 – 7 April 2014) was a Spanish sculptor and painter of the late 20th century. His best known work is probably the Passion Facade of the basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. He was cont ...

at Line 3's station hall

References

External links

*
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de CatalunyaInformation about L3 metro station at TMBInformation about L5 metro station at TMBTransports Metropolitans de BarcelonaDiagonal L3, history and antique photos at Transport.cat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Provenca-Diagonal station Stations on the Barcelona–Vallès Line Barcelona Metro line 3 stations Barcelona Metro line 5 stations Barcelona Metro line 6 stations Barcelona Metro line 7 stations Transport in Eixample Avinguda Diagonal Railway stations located underground in Spain Railway stations in Spain opened in 1882 Railway stations in Spain opened in 1924 Railway stations in Spain opened in 1969