More spots to visit Barcelona ghost metro stations to be made available

Barcelona has a number of ghost metro stations. Stations that exist, that are underground and, in many cases, connected to the network, but see no passengers pass through. 

Now, for the first time ever, the city is opening up some of these ghost stations for the public to visit.

Catalan News visited the Gaudí metro station on Thursday afternoon, a station that was fully built in 1968, but never put into use.

Construction delays led to a change of plans for the metro map, and the redrawn routes rendered Gaudí pointless, as it was too close to the Sagrada Família stop. 

Today, passengers travelling between Sagrada Familia and Sant Pau | Dos de Maig may catch a glimpse of the station that never was, as trains run through the facility, even though they don't stop there.

This weekend, and again in November, hundreds of curious citizens will get to visit the Gaudí station. Visitors will also get to see historic metro infrastructure up to 100 years old, old conductors' hats, and metro tickets used down the years.

“50 years later it has been given a bit of a facelift,” the director of communication of TMB, Mònica Peinado, told reporters on the platform of Gaudí stop.

The metro director, Òscar Playa, explained that the Gaudí station has added safety panels and light fixtures to ensure safe visits. “Access has also been enabled for guided tours," he added.

But, as there were millions of requests on the website to get tickets, operator Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) will make more spots and dates available for curious citizens to visit the would-be metro stop beneath Avinguda Gaudí. 

The public transport company does not rule out the possibility of Gaudí’s “ghost station” being opened to the public outside of the events commemorating 100 years of the metro’s history. 

Other ghost stations in Barcelona include Ferran, Bordeta, Banc, and Correus. Most of these stations have been operational at some point in the past, but Gaudí hasn’t. Instead, it serves as the headquarters for the association of retired transport workers, and has been used as a set to film ads.

Later this month, some will be lucky enough to pay a midnight visit to Correus, where original 1960s advertising and political posters can still be seen.

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