A Different Way to Build a Metro? | Barcelona Line 9

[@javiskii]

Nebula viewer here, just dropping to make a quick comment... The other reason why cut&cover sometimes is not the most efficient in Europe is because of the amount of ruins we have. With the cut and cover method, works stop for months or even years at a time, and it takes a lot of time and resources to go even the smallest distance. While if you go much deeper, you can avoid it (mostly, except in stations, there you are going to find that issue again, but is just the stations as opposed to the whole thing). That's why Granada's "metro" (glorified tram) took so long on its central section, and is the reason why further projects might consider deep tunnels if they're ever implemented

[@manuramos89]

That's the story of Rome's Line C metro

[@andrewweitzman4006]

I believe that in one Italian subway system, the approach by the workers was "archaelogical treasures? Huh, we just jackhammered through everything, move along..." I think there's even a reference to that in a Fellini film.

[@2712animefreak]

Yeah. In Croatia, just the installment of a pedestrian underpass to access the platforms at Sisak station is already taking 9 years.

[@sergpie]

Same in Naples, Italy; the delays for one of the metro lines was constant due to the ruins and artifacts found during digging and boring. One line found everything from Roman villas to Greek merchant vessels, with practically all of it being left in situ as displays. Pretty neat

[@williamerazo3921]

That’s and they don’t have wide streets like NA

[@unlapras9365]

Another crazy feature of lines 9/10 is that each level of the tunnel is fireproof and acts as an emergency exit for the other. That means emergency shafts that are usually required on modern subways are not needed. Also, because all the width of the tunnel is used, there is no room for sidewalks. That is not an issue at because in case of an emergency, the front of the train opens and a ramp allows passengers to walk on the tracks. Walking on the tracks is not dangerous either since the line uses overhead wires.

[@TwoWholeWorms]

It's an overhead rail, and the signal current runs through the rails, but yeah, it's not as dangerous as it would be on the Northern Line in London. A lot of the Eastern end of the lines does have walkways beside it though, as it just makes things simpler.

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

8:46 thought my computer crashed for a second

[@TamDNB]

I was so tripped out when i went down about 6 flights of escalators in Barcelona to get to line 9 a few months back. Now i know, great video. thanks!

[@tomw.4440]

What I also quite like is the passenger evacuation concept on Barcelona's Line 9. Because the line is fully automated and there is no drivers stand in the way, the whole front or back of the train can open up to provide emergency egress for the passengers. A ramp then unfolds which makes it also possible for wheelchair users to evacuate on their own. This is also aided by the lack of ties between the tracks, which lessens the chance of people tripping in the tunnels.

[@pizzaipinya2442]

Other things that delayed the line were the 2008 crisis, which hit Spain really hard, and the 2005 collapse of some buildings during the L5 ampliation, which delayed all metro projects to make new geological prospections (which also made the price rise) to make sure nothing happened again

[@silver_bowling]

6:25 BART will not be building island platforms in the San Jose extension. The northernmost station at Little Portugal will use side platforms, and the stations in downtown will use the stacked configuration just like Barcelona.

[@atallshadeofthecolorred6918]

VTA's latest blog on the matter (titled "BART Silicon Valley Extension Phase II December 2022 Newsletter") seems to indicate they are considering switching to a larger tunnel bore in order to accommodate side-by-side layouts (I assume throughout the tunnel, but it's not completely clear), which they say will be faster, cheaper, and less disruptive to build. It seems like it's still up in the air.

[@silver_bowling]

I hadn’t seen that, I hope they stick with the stacked configuration. In any case the island platforms won’t be as narrow as shown at 6:36

[@maestrepercola]

There are some other things to say about Barcelona's line 9 (&10): - One of the TBM was left rusting and now it's completely useless. It lays under, more or less, Plaça Lesseps. - The second TBM was able to start boring again few months ago (hurray!!!) - The reason line 9 only uses one of the tracks at its provisional Barcelona terminal is because the lower deck is used to vacate debris from the boring machine that is operational. - Actually there had been troubles with a building's foundations, which were deeper than expected by its blueprints. - The delays in its construction comes mainly by the lack of resources to pursue its construction. The original plan was to have the line as a concession to a company, so the government pays a fee from a date (expected of opening) during a given time. Several delays made the government to start paying without the line being operative. In addition, 2008 crisis prevented the government to allocate more money to the finishing of the line. Barcelona's metro history provides two cases similar to this trouble with line 9 (& 10): - Even before the construiction of the first metro line (now number 3, green), Barcelona city council planed to open a new street through the old city center, now Via Laietana, under which was planed to build a subsurface tunnel for a metro. Tunels were left unfinished and to the open air for years, as money to end construction ran short. Finally the tunnels were finished and inculed, as a branch, for the Gran Metropolitano, after line IIIB. Nowadays can be seen in some parts the difference between the original tunnels and the works to complete it, for instance, right after the abandoned/unfinished station "Beatas/Banco". - Lines II and V: For a long time there had been a gap in the numbers of the lines in Barcelona. Number 2 was missing. It actually existed and operated for some years while being built, as well as line V (yes, in roman numerals back then). Both lines II and V meant to meet at Sagrada Famila, and diverge again: Line II under carrer Provença (nowadays line 5 station), Line V under avinguda Gaudí (abandoned station). Works for line II from Sagrada Famila to the north were uncompleted but finished at one of its ends. So, instead of having two parts of line II, the central side was joined with line V, the norther bit with line IV.

[@pizzaipinya2442]

Lol, incredibly accurate!! That's a problem not only in Barcelona, but in Spain as a hole most times. Other Transit-related delays to mention in Barcelona could be the Sagrera and Sant Andreu stations PD: the only thing you said that's wrong is that the deck being used to vacate debris is the upper one, not the lower one (at least at Zona Universitaria)

[@haobo_12]

Having taken the line 9, I'd say it's really convenient to get into stations with elevators. They're fast, and there are a ton of them. However, they get filled up really fast in busy stations. And in some stations such as Collblanc or La Sagrera, they've put a ton of escalators instead of elevators, presumably because they're too busy.

[@bearcubdaycare]

Yeah, the capacity of escalators, which are continuous, versus even large capacity elevators, wasn't mentioned. How was the capacity of the platform?

[@viajadorsindatos7041]

bro I thought they were playing a practical joke on me when I first transferred at Collblanc with how many escalators there were

[@haobo_12]

@@bearcubdaycare in Collblanc, where L9 links with L5, and L10 ends, there were plenty of people in the platform. But they all fit in the platform. Although I rarely take the metro during rush hours.

[@haobo_12]

@@viajadorsindatos7041 6. Yes, six. With the elevators is much faster to get on/off the platform than the escalators.

[@antoni-olafsabater9729]

If they are too busy they need lots of elevators !!!!!! Sheer logic !

[@ttrjw]

Cut and cover isn't used in London because the amount of property demolition required would be excessive. We also dont have long straight roads found in NYC. Remember that the District and Metropolitan lines were built using cut and cover and certainly large parts of the Met run under roads. On lifts: News for you - many London Underground stations did have lifts. They naturally have less capacity than escalators and quite a few stations were upgrade with escalators being added later.

[@Blaze6108]

Honestly the oval TBM looks so amazingly cursed and genius at the same time. I kinda love it.

[@DavidLin]

8:45 Coupled TBM is also used in Taoyuan Airport MRT from Taipei Main Station to Sanchong under the river. Also a few seconds around here looks glitchy I remember that a few metro stations in Tokyo are dug between two small bored tunnels although I can't recall their names.

[@RMTransit]

Interesting to hear and yes :/

[@bazoo513]

When vienna was digging U3 trenches along Mariahilferstrasse, they managed to keep traffic (kind of) going, even tram, which was temporary tracks moved almost weekly. They managed _not_ to drive high ticket stores from the street - it returned to its full glory as soon as the works finished. But often cities don't manage this with cut and cover approach.

[@walker1054]

Used to follow this line because I loved the idea and still think it can be the best. Sure it has lots of issues being built but it's a new thing and ideally they learnt from their lessons so the next city to use the same design can build it much quicker and cheaper. There's lots more potential huge benefits that never ever get mentioned. The biggest is that its essentially unlimited futureproofed. Like how Elizabeth Line is designed for 11 car trains despite current trains being 9 cars long, this line can be designed for limited cars. Because the station is in the tunnel as long as rooms are only built at one end of the platform on the other end you could theoretically extend the platform as much as you want, for essentially free. Make the trains 6 cars now, then in 30 years make them 12 cars if you have to, the room is right there. This is impossible for other metro lines and if it was cities would pay many billions to extend trains on each line by just 30% let alone 100%. No need to increase the frequency of trains to a headache amount, just make the trains longer. Another big benefit is free emergency escape access, there's space along side the track to walk to the next station safely, I think this is a UK requirement now. Another benefit is some engineering work can potentially be done during the day, on the Tube I've had a work time frame of like 90 mins before. Oh adding a new entrance is another benefit. Double the platform length and you'd probably want to add another entrance, this is a nightmare or impossible for traditional lines but if it's just 6 lift shafts on the other end of the platform then it's "easy".

[@pizzaipinya2442]

Acctually, the elevators (and escalators in some stations, I hope when they finish they would be a minority) are positioned in the middle of the platform. Each elevator has two doors, one at the front, heading to a semicircular space, from which you wait for and enter the elevators, and one at the back, which is for people inside the elevator to leave it. So there are 3 doors connecting elevators and the platform: a middle one to go waiting elevators and two side doors to go from the elevators to the platform Apart from this, you are totally right, hope I could explain myself correctly :)

[@coolandgood0062]

The tunnelling works have been resumed for a while. My uni is where the L9/L10sud end and I constantly see trucks arriving with tunnel segments.

[@RMTransit]

Must be exciting to see it moving along!

[@paupadros]

Really cool! Glad you found the footage useful :)

[@transitspace4366]

Some precision on Barcelona line 9: the upper part of the tunnel (including the upper part of the stations) between Torrassa and Zona Universitària is still not built, the line is therefore single track in the lower part of the tunnel on this section. Line 10 could technically end at Zona Universitària like line 9 instead of Collblanc, but that would decrease capacity because as I said it's single track (single track terminals are terrible for frequency, terminating at 2 different stations is therefore required). On lines L9 and L10 North, both terminate at Sagrera station, which is also single track, all trains use the upper part of the station as the lower part is still not built. If the line has taken over 20 years of construction, it is not for technical but financial reasons, work stopped for almost 10 years (there was only 4km left to dig!) and did not resume until 2022. The Montreal pink line project was to use this method before being replaced by the REM de l’est, whose central Montreal branch was canceled. However, a new route further from the green line and entirely underground has been proposed and may use the Barcelona method (although this is not necessary outside of Europe as the streets in Canada are quite wide enough to build cut-and-cover).

[@transitspace4366]

As for the branches vs. separate lines debate, I think the correct answer is that it depends on whats make the line important. Line A of the RER has 5 branches (line C even has 7) and is considered as a single line because its most important part is the cross-city tunnel. On the other hand, the future lines 16 and 17 will share the same tracks between Le Bourget and St Denis Pleyel and even if the frequency will be higher on this section, the core of these lines will be the branches, as these lines were designed to connect the suburbs together, unlike the RER and metro lines 7 and 13 which connects the suburbs to the city-center via the central tunnel.

[@transitspace4366]

Line 15 in Paris will also have some deep stations with high capacity elevators. The most notable example is the 52-metre-deep Saint-Maur-Créteil station which will have 11 elevators and (unlike Barcelona) a huge beautiful helical stairs. One of the most beautiful stations of the grand Paris express project.

[@nicolasblume1046]

There are also other methods to build a platform inside the tunnel! Example from Cologne, Germany: The new North-south light rail Tunnel uses two parallel tunnels with a single track. The tunnels are a bit bigger than they would need to be for a single track, so at 2 of the stations with fewer passengers they built the platforms within the tunnel, connected with cross-passages. But the platforms are just 3m wide, so only possible when the passenger numbers are not too high

[@EppelheimTV]

About the "Branch" or "Separate Lines" Discussion: I think that the branding depends a lot on the service patterns that the outer branches receive compared to the trunk route. If the branches only see a service every 20 minutes or so on a Metro network, such as the Chesham or Amersham branches of the Metropolitan line, it should be classified as a branch line, as people probably associate a less frequent service on a branch line. But if a branch line receives a service that is every 10 minutes or more frequent, it should count as its own line. Additionally, it also depends on how many services use the trunk route. If you have a lot of services, like the Munich or Frankfurt S-Bahn, each service should be given its own labeling as a line. And although the frequencies of the outer sections of these network do not justify a branding as a "line", it is important to do that as otherwise passengers would be overwhelmed by an excessive number of branches and different services... Looking at you, District Line! And if a city, such as Tokyo, already has a lot of lines, a small branch should only be counted as a branch and not an entire line. I do not want to imagine a Tokyo Metro map, where the Marunouchi line is split in two as the "Ogikubo" and "Honancho lines".

[@egesanli619]

I agree most of the parts but not about frequency. I think we may classify them based on how much of their tracks are shared between. Look at Istanbul Metro line M2. There is one branch and it gets a train every 8 minutes, all day long. It still is a branch because its own track is too short to be a separate line.

[@oriol108]

I think that they are planning to have frequency of 10 minutes on the branches and 5 minutes on the central part alterning a train to every branch every 5 minutes

[@manshenriksson]

IMO, the completed line should be classified as 1 line, 2 services, and 4 branches.

[@2712animefreak]

I don't think London is a good place to base your naming standards on. Like, wtf is the District Line even?

[@EppelheimTV]

@@2712animefreak The District line is a heavily branched line consisting of two different trunk routes, three branches in the west and one shuttle service that only runs very rarely. But I do not see the point why London would be such a bad choice? I might also take a different city and other people might also not get it. Additionally, you managed to find out that both lines mentioned are from London, so they are actually not that unknown.

[@marktownend8065]

One thing you didn't mention is the extra space gives more room for technical trackside equipment and maintenance access. Between stations, it should be more practical to access the tracks and fix infrastructure items without stopping traffic or at least limiting the time of stoppage compared to a conventional tunnel design. Emergency access for responders and evacuation is also improved. It should be possible to drive a rescue/maintenance vehicle along much of the tunnel if a smooth surface was provided, improving response time. Adding stations and new junction or turnback locations after initial construction should also be easier.

[@walker1054]

Extending trains and platforms would kinda be cheap and quick too as long as 1 end of the platforms is kept clear when built. Could literally double the length of trains and therefore double the capacity of the line. Cities can spend billions reducing train frequencies from like 140 seconds to 100 seconds because it's the only way to increase capacity and even then 100 seconds is kind of a cap. But assuming an entire line is built this way the capacity could be endlessly increased whenever needed. Forget crossrail being futureproofed, it's already packed and barely space during rush hour, the 2 extra cars there planning in a couple of decades will be too late and won't be enough. This new design could easily handle increases in passengers for 100 years by just cheaply keep adding cars and basic non structural platform changes.

[@queens.dee.223]

This video caused me to do a web search for "spiral escalator." Totally a thing! No idea about reliability, but they exist.

[@pizzaipinya2442]

I see a problem with spiral escalators: if it stops working, you have to walk all the way up On the other hand, with a zigzag alignment, if one escalator is broken you'll have to walk only that specific escalator

[@RMTransit]

They do yes! I thought about mentioning but as someone else pointed out I am not sure they are suited to heavy duty mass transit use!

[@bryanCJC2105]

The station in the tunnel bore approach w stacked tracks that eliminate the need for large underground flying junctions is kind of elegant. I wonder if that empty space throughout the line between stations makes it easier to add in-fill stations later on. The station you showed appeared to have 4 elevators. For a busy station though, you would need A LOT of elevators so, maybe those stations also have escalators? I used to use the Forest Hill MUNI station in San Francisco all the time which is a very deep station w elevators. Personally, I don't like elevators, but Forest Hill has two elevators for each platform that were pretty big so it didn't feel like a coffin. The only waiting was if both elevators were at the top and you had to wait for them to descend. The elevators are pretty slow. Of course, as is often the case w MUNI, one elevator was often out of service but Forest Hill isn't a high volume station.

[@DrMJT]

I have been suggesting for decades, in UK and EU... to make TBMs with hydraulic cutting heads. A TBM with a cutting head of 7 to 10m can have at flick of a switch, the cutting head expands with each push forward to be up to double in tunnel size. The change in diameter from small to medium to large cutting head would have concrete segments that are pre-cast to match the expansion and to - other end of station, decrease the pre-cast segments back to the diameter for the next tunnel running section. As with the LizPurp line, escalators can be excavated on predetermined incline angles. The Station fixtures and fittings could be lowered along these \ sloped entrances. The only soil removal at station sites would be primarily done by the TBMs with just the escalator tunnel sections to be removed at ground level. This TBM configuration change is entirely possible with 1980s Channel Tunnel TBM technology - it is very basic.

[@mrmaniac3]

The newer method of building smaller structures within a larger structure in airports reminds me of old rail and bus terminals, using a massive skylight roof covering all the platforms. I remember watching an archival video about I think a bus terminal somewhere in the UK--it might be London--and how they removed the structure in favor of an open air terminal.

[@unhappyschurrle2501]

Looking at the BART plan, unless the tunnels are genuinely huge, it looks like they’re going to have the same issues as the Northern Line at Clapham North & Clapham Common (and other stations where it’s already been fixed).

[@Flynn_]

The platforms are narrow relative to other BART stations. Napkin math puts the platforms around 15-20 feet wide.

[@bearcubdaycare]

For the Elizabeth line, only a small fraction was spent on tunneling, most was spent on stations. By a lot.

[@TheRaulin121997]

Just a small clarification: all stations already built in L9-10 provide escalator access. No station has elevator-only access, as I understood you said in the video. And about wether it shoud be considered one line or two, in my opinion for wayfinding purposes (and therefore officially) it should be considered as two different lines. Keep in mind that the paths of each line does not change (e.g. L10 will always go from the Zona Franca branch to the Gorg branch and viceversa, and in order to go to the Can Zam branch you would have to change). Also, in all other metro lines in Barcelona all trains complete the line entirely, so people are not used to checking the destination of a specific train if they know it is the correct line. Obviously, if we're comparing for example different metro systems of different cities, we should consider L9&10 as one line because they act as one for most of the lenght. I'd also like to say that, IMO, the platforms are too narrow for the demand that the completed lines will have, considering that there's only one entrance/exit to each platform and that people don't tend to move along the platform when they reach it, instead choosing to wait near the entrance/exit. So... sorry for my kind of broken English :'( Thank you for the very informative content that you always make, and let's hope the lines are finished by 2029, as announced! :D

[@GBKarpAviation]

São Paulo is planning to build a line like this one, Line 16 - Violet, however it's planned for (at minimum) 2039, and it's probably going to be done much after that

[@gabrielpaiva1016]

It's actually planned to open in 2034. So yeah, it will probably open in sometimes in the 2040s.

[@RMTransit]

Well there we go! I'll need to look in for my updated video for SP!

[@wallydall8570]

Great video. I know I've asked this before but I would love a video on Dublin's rail, tram and bus network. Love your content keep it up 👍

[@sams3015]

Same…we need so much investment. I’d like Riess to give me some hope

[@naoised7638]

not much to make a video about... apart from that its the worst rail system in Europe.

[@wallydall8570]

@@naoised7638 good point. I suppose he could talk about dart+ and metrolink. Hopefully they don't get abandoned like dart underground.

[@themanyouwanttobe]

I rode the Luas when I visited back in 2008!

[@RMTransit]

Eventually! These projects take time!

[@SaurabhRautIR]

Bangkok MRT Blue line has many of such stations have platforms above another, like Silom. Maybe they aren't dug by TBM, but they use same structure

[@RMTransit]

Yep! Its a common design all over the place!

[@Techno-Universal]

Also Parliament Station in Melbourne Australia was built with drilling machines underground while the access shafts were drilled on an angle so they could be used as the escalator shafts! There’s also a virtual shaft which is the lift shaft for the station! :)

[@AaronSmith-sx4ez]

I appreciate these more technical videos that focus on engineering aspect of transit. IMO deep tunneling should be mostly reserved for inter-city rail instead of metro rail. Take the Yitzhak Navon station which literally takes 10 minutes to walk to the surface. This isn't so bad because it is an inter-city rail that connects two cities (Tel Aviv + Jerusalem). So walk time / train time ratio isn't crazy. But if you are commuting on an urban metro rail, reducing walk time is paramount. A New Yorker can and does use the MTA during their lunch breaks because (most) of the stations are so efficient/walkable. Sadly many urban planners reverse this and put inner-city rail deep below ground and inter-city rail above-ground.

[@RMTransit]

Tbf deep stations with lots of escalators also aren't fast to access - in fact maybe even slower!

[@manshenriksson]

Yes! Thats such an interesting line! (Also, always fun to see my footage pop up now and then :))

[@RMTransit]

Thank you for it! It can illustrate many things!

[@aramisjdd6387]

in cramped space, where cut-and-cover is possible, with this theory, it could be an option to make double-decker tunnel and it would be also the same price as an standard cut-and-cover tunnel.

[@equilat]

You are very productive these times, that's impressive. I love watching your content so I'm happy but, please, don't make a burn out 😂 However I'm not complaining for sure! Keep up the good work!

[@RMTransit]

I always do extra in December! Its a lot of work but thats KZbin!

[@私気に成ります]

Interesting subway design. On the subject of the multiple lines running on the same tracks, well, er... Shonan-Shinjuku Line. :D Thanks for the video as usual!

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for watching!

[@cv990a4]

"Setting NIMBYs on fire" - a great idea, especially since it's a renewable energy source.

[@ethanhowarth2380]

Love the content like always. Could you talk about the limited adoption of metro systems in main UK cities and why this has happened? Thanks

[@CABOOSEBOB]

I don’t think this method has too much application to the United States, as it doesn’t really solve the cost issue and isn’t really necessary in American style cities, where cut and cover really can work well

[@heidirabenau511]

Didn't expect to see another video on the channel today, great to see though!

[@RMTransit]

Extra video december!

[@oliverrushworth702]

While I kinda get your point about not wanting to give them credit for building two lines I think having them as two lines makes sense from a navigation point of view. It’s much easier to say for instance: “You can take line 9 or 10 from platform X to get to station Y” for main branch stations while saying “you can take line 9 from platform X to station Z” for sub branch stations. It’s essentially how it works now but instead of looking for trains going to a certain destination you can just look for a number and colour

[@oriol108]

tunnel boring had been like 10 years halted due to financial problems, lack of money to resume construction of the central part of the tunnel, resumed boring last june... expected to finnish on 2025 or 2026 the tunnel (not the stations yet)

[@hocamrastas4778]

Very cool video thanks Reece. Really explains a lot.

[@EpicThe112]

I wonder if this technology can work in New York City provided they need a four-track Second Avenue line south of 63rd Street this could have been also used to modernize Lexington Avenue a Quad stack tunnel if needed. In New York City you would have it configured as upper level local lower level Express examples are A train Nostrand Ave 4&5 trains 86th st

[@pizzaipinya2442]

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHH!!!! Another Barcelona video!!!!!

[@Hiro_Trevelyan]

Building large tunnels isn't that much more expensive than building a small tunnel, especially with TBMs. That's why I hate that Paris uses small trains : building your tunnel 20cm wider won't make it that expensive, you're already building a tunnel anyway. Plus widening a tunnel is really expensive, as opposed to "building it extra-large from the start". That's why they built Lyon's metro extra-large and it was a great decision.

[@Furitokama]

Paris metro uses small trains because the municipality back in the late 19th century wanted to prevent any take over by large main railway companies. It's for the same reason that Paris metro run on the right instead of the left for main line railways. Infact earlier proposals planned even narrower trains and narrow gauge tracks. The history of Paris metro is a fight between the City of Paris who wanted a municipal network and the State of France who wanted to built lines that connected the main railway networks. This fight lasted for decades until the City of Paris won.

[@fbrtnrsthf]

You should link to your previous Barcelona line 9 video!!! That was good

[@Jestersage]

One thing I am curious: Do you think the laws governing accessibility (not actual accessibility, as you point out regarding the actual amount of elevator needed) affect the decision BART takes vs Barcelona?

[@ethandanielburg6356]

Excellent video as always! Out of curiosity, what software do you use to make your drawings and diagrams (of things like stations and tunnels)?

[@RMTransit]

Drawn in Procreate!

[@fredashay]

What happened at 8:45 to 8:58 ?

[@RMTransit]

Render Error :(

[@LuisCG11]

I think that a section of the construction of line 7 of metro de Santiago wants to use the same approach that Barcelona used.

[@xouxoful]

The gain for branching without fly over I did not see coming ! Super 👍. I wouldn’t be personally confortable with the « 100% elevator » approach, though.

[@fbrtnrsthf]

The line 9 TBM was stopped for 10 years and just resumed boring in July ‘22. I think the delay was more political/budgetary than technical.

[@dcseain]

Here in DC, we have some stacked stations, some side-by-side bored stations, some island platforms, some side platforms, and all are beautifully brutalist stations. Some stations have only elevators, most have escalators and elevators, with some stairs. Parts below ground, at ground level, and elevated. A bit of everything. The outdoor stations vary in appearance a chunk based on when they were built.

[@TwoWholeWorms]

The local bookies are taking bets on which will be finished first: The Line 9/10 core tunnel, or Estació Barcelona-La Sagrera. It's pretty much a 50/50 toss-up at this point, but if you suggest either will be finished before 2027 you literally get laughed at. xD This city's done some really cool things with its transit system, but the one thing it is _not_ good at is doing anything on time or under budget. >.< I wish they'd retrofit the other lines with the new trains, though, even if they have to retain the driving cabs, 'cause they're _so_ much nicer than the other lines' trains.

[@szaboattila9024]

4:25 Bro we had this idea back in the 70s’ in Hungary..💀

[@stefano3202]

Can something like this be done in a city like New York for something like the second Avenue subway? I’m not sure how stations with a large amount of foot traffic can handle using only elevators

[@williamerazo3921]

Not in NYC. East side gets well one 1M passengers easily

[@BoredSquirell]

Barcelona did so many things right, that the flaws are even more jarring. Like interchanges between metro lines. Forget about cross-platform changes, forget even short escalators, there will be 10 minutes walking in an underground labyrinth.

[@antoni-olafsabater9729]

The busiest stations of these 9 and 10 lines have only one or two elevators whereas the unimportant ones, eight elevators. Really wise, hahahaha

[@laurencefraser]

that's... bad... though how much of that is down to the fact that the ones that were Expected to be busiest (and presumably would drive a lot of the use of the currently underutilized ones) haven't actually been built/connected yet? That would eliminate the 'unimportant ones' having too many elevators. Doesn't solve the lack of elevators at busy stations issue though.

[@antoni-olafsabater9729]

@@laurencefraser Hi. Well not quite the case. They’re busy coz they are connected to other lines. = it s about busy transfers. These busy stations are as new as the others.

[@RMTransit]

IIRC because they do have tons of escalators?

[@antoni-olafsabater9729]

@@RMTransit No. If you check these lines you ll see what I say. There are escalators in all stations and many elevators everywhere but not when they are peremptorily required. It s like saying two plus two is nine. I know well these lines.

[@TrainThings]

Hello and greetings from Barcelona. Just yesterday I was travelling on the l9, like so many other times, and I was thinking about the problem that this type of construction has represented for my city. To begin with, the fact of having to make the tunnels so large has meant a huge cost overrun that has caused the line to be many years behind schedule. At the time it was said that the extra-large tunnels would be used to put two tracks in some sections in order to make fast trains that did not stop at all the stations since some are in areas of low demand. This did not make any sense, given that by building the stations within the same tunnel, the sections where it is possible to place double track are too short. Likewise, the great depth means that the maintenance cost of the large number of elevators required is very high. And there are even stations that have parallel escalators of 6 or 7 sections. A madness. In Barcelona, new extensions are being planned on other lines (yes, we don't know when we will be able to finish what we started 20 years ago, but we are already dreaming of new lines 😒) and I think the idea is to return to more traditional boring machines. But you know, our politicians are always willing to spend on anything "cool"... If one day you come to Barcelona, don't hesitate to contact me and let's take a tour of several interesting transport sites in Barcelona. Likewise, if you need photos, videos or information, don't hesitate to tell me. Thanks for your videos!

[@ЕвгенийБагрянов-н9э]

0:42 TY TY 😊

[@ЕвгенийБагрянов-н9э]

10:16 and it will probably also allow you to extend the station relatively easily later

[@ЕвгенийБагрянов-н9э]

cool 👍

[@sangyoonsim]

8:46 This video bout to get pull down... 🙄

[@heidirabenau511]

I thought it was just me!

[@mrmaniac3]

A little error, not too bad

[@RMTransit]

Hopefully its not that bad!

[@sri-kaushalramana437]

can you do a video on Atlantas Marta

[@canadabayindependents1740]

Is this a “gadget tunnel”?

[@TheKlink]

8:40 i thought all tbm-s were circular?

[@RMTransit]

Nope!

[@The_Gamer_66]

Can you make a video about the gauge changing Golden Pass Express (Switzerland)?

[@UltimateAzumanger]

8:46 Something went wrong here.

[@RMTransit]

Sadly

[@matthewlynch9331]

You should do a Dublin video!

[@RMTransit]

2023!

[@santosh_979]

DMRC Delhi India uses "Cut and Cover" method along with TBM.

[@kartik_sinha]

what is the diameter of the TBM's that they are using?

[@pizzaipinya2442]

Around 12 meters I think

[@DKS007]

8:50 glitch

[@richardchen7797]

The video looks to be broken at 8:48 or is it just me?

[@michaelmcnally1242]

It concerns me that those emergency exit stairways may be comparable to climbing the stairs of a 15 storey building

[@pizzaipinya2442]

You can also walk through the tunnels to the next station!! The trains have a ramp emergency exit where it should be the cabin (as it's automated, there isn't)

[@modrak]

Anyone else getting a dropout at 8:47 and freeze frame until 8:57?

[@MarioFanGamer659]

Pretty sure it's a video error here and not unique to you.

[@jeff__w]

I am. It's like a glitch in the space-time continuum. Maybe Reece will want to re-upload a fixed video?

[@RMTransit]

@@jeff__w Not this time, too minor

[@saphironkindris]

Is it just me, or was the thumbnail for this video strangely big in the subscriptions list compared to any other video? I don't know why, your video here was like, double the size of any other.

[@heidirabenau511]

Just you

[@jacobmars1902]

Just Alphabets shitty code like usual

[@tubegirl1013]

I've had that with a couple of videos lately but not this one

[@stevenroshni1228]

Lettering seems bigger

[@RMTransit]

Subconscious connection to metro content?

[@robertnebot9863]

Been waiting for the Line to reach my house since 2003

[@pizzaipinya2442]

I think you'll wait like 3 years more and 6 or more to see the station built :/

[@ChrisGBusby]

I would love to see someone put a new cut-and-cover line into London now, everything down to around 35 meters is now pretty much like a bowl of spaghetti!

[@eminemeatingmmswithotherem5879]

Didn't completed after 20 years i think that you would mention Thessaloniki's metro 😂

[@rodrigomenegucci]

the great advantage of this method is to reduce the volume excavated at the stations by increasing the volume of the tunnels, which is cheaper. worth it when there are stations very close.a solution to reduce the cost with very large tunnels is to use smaller gauge trains, narrower than usual on heavy-metros, which make it possible to reduce the TBM diameter, but longer to increase capacity, wich came at no cost since the statation lenght is no issue

[@RMTransit]

Precisely!

[@luisstransport]

Great video

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for joining us!

[@uingaeoc3905]

Is Northern Line London one line or two?

[@marktownend8065]

Maybe its a 'line group', a 'sub-network' or a 'brand'! Users seem to have become accustomed to its idiosyncrasies.

[@squagwag2808]

well you see the two branches don’t really interline.

[@uingaeoc3905]

@@marktownend8065 Except for visitors arriving at Euston where it is thoroughly confusing! It really is just a matter of adopting a line colour and a name for the Bank branch and simplify the signage - for some reason TfL thinks it has to be an all singing and dancing formal engineering division at Camden Town!

[@uingaeoc3905]

@@squagwag2808 What do you think Camden Town does?

[@RMTransit]

IMO 2 in all but name.

[@enryfrafranci]

F 8:45

[@RMTransit]

😢

[@anthonywalsh2164]

Aren’t most stations constructed as boxes when TBMs are used, like Sydney Metro, or Rome Line C ? They also serve as staging platforms. Meaning BART is the outlier here.

[@RMTransit]

This is often the approach yes!

[@oriol108]

I wonder why they don't build 2 tracks all along the tunnel between the stations enabling half of the trains to skip half of the stations or so ?

[@marktownend8065]

That doesn't really work well as fast tracks need to bypass platforms which occupy the other half of the tunnel at the critical locations. If the platforms were staggered by a ramp length , a single bi-directional fast track for liited express service might alternate between upper and lower levels, but the stagger would complicate station design as access tunnels and shafts would have to be longer and/or more numerous.

[@apexhunter935]

They're separate lines. Edit: a new yorker and lets just say we're not much of a fan of having branches being considered part of the same line

[@bluhgh]

weird the way yer man bounces around at the start of the video when talking to the camera

[@jmd1743]

The idea of using elevators seems more American than what America has become today. America use to be a country of novel ideas & people who're willing to try them but today it's a country of bureaucracy ran by lawyers.

[@liamhodgson]

The similarities of sewer interceptor tunnels and drop shafts and subway infrastructure is somewhat striking

[@RMTransit]

True!

[@NotJustPlanes]

6th viewer, great video today!

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for watching!

[@DanCojocaru2000]

Numbering lines sharing tracks the same makes numbering completely useless, might as well not number the lines.

[@prithwirajsingh5916]

Make a video on India's Delhi metro

[@RMTransit]

I have a dedicated video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoXLYWB7j7mYasU

[@romandelasalle]

Barcelona got unlucky with the economical crysis of 2008, from there Barcelona constructed a very little new tracks.

[@AllyUnion]

I wonder the stacked design was not considered in BART due to earthquake concerns.

[@PotatoLaptopUser101]

With Bart I don’t think it will be fine as not too many people use Bart, mostly just commute a few stops, and for longer trips car are just better- and Bart did get new trains that are narrower then the old ones and the new ones are already in operations and they are starting to slowly faze out the old trains

[@ChatGPT1111]

So a country that doesn't have a lot of violence still installs glass barriers while the U.S. riders are lucky to not get pushed onto the rails. No barriers, nada, nilch.

[@laurencefraser]

Mostly an age and budget thing: the screen doors have only become a 'standard' thing in relatively recent times, and thus have only been installed in places that have recently had the spare budget to install them... and many older stations are actually built in such a way that the installation isn't actually viable, so installing them is more expensive than it sounds in those cases... then there's the trains that are designed in ways that don't interact with them properly, the necessity of stopping in perfect alignment (many railways around the world don't have the automation needed for this to work... again, budget.) And the fact that installing them takes the station out of service for a while can be an issue too. Oh, and the barriers have little or nothing to do with violence in the first place. They're part accident-proofing safety feature, part 'make a whole tonne of things about designing and running trains and stations less of a pain in the butt' feature. The better ones provide an environemental seal between station and track (making heating/cooling more pracitcal, and allowing trains to travel faster when passing through without stopping, among other things) as well, for example.

[@DavidL-ii7yn]

Barcelona transit system was the most unpleasant I've experienced: even worse than Atlanta. Bad direction finding. Bad customer service. Bad ticket terminals. Crowded. The cops in the central station sure seemed corrupt. The city is neither pedestrian friendly or car friendly: worst of both worlds. It's on my list of places I never want to visit again.

[@pizzaipinya2442]

First time I hear we have customer service xd Every tourist I find asks people from here for directions and as most people don't speak English I end up indicating were they should go. Yeah, some stations have bad signaling and are a labyrinth, but that's only on big, old stations like Passeig de Gracia or Plaça de Sants. Yep, the cops are probably corrupt 🙃 Nah, just joking, but they probably won't do their job unless something reaaaally terrible happens (I mean, they won't help you if you are pickpocketed, only if you are fighting with the robber they will) Our mayor now is trying to make the city more pedestrian and cycling friendly, but she's doing it SOOO WRONG that we're now on a mid-point we seem to not be able to scape in the short term

[@aravindm3272]

First comment

[@heidirabenau511]

You're second, I was first!

[@pcongre]

Brilliantly put, thanks for the video! < 3 (for the next time you're unsure of how to pronounce _Íñigo_, perhaps you could take a look in Forvo or a similar service? It is for free and only takes some seconds! ; ) )