Barcelona Estació de França
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Barcelona Estació de França
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Aerial view
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| Location | Avinguda Marquès de l' Argentera, Barcelona, Catalonia Spain |
| Owned by | Adif |
| Operated by | Renfe Operadora |
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| Construction | |
| Structure type | At-grade |
| Disabled access | Yes |
| History | |
| Opened | 1848 |
Estació de França (Catalan pronunciation: [əstasiˈo ðə ˈfɾansə]; Spanish: Estación de Francia; "France Station") is a major railway station in the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain.
Estació de França is the second busiest railway station of the city after Barcelona-Sants in terms of regional and long-distance ridership. It may lose this status, however, with the arrival of the AVE high-speed train in Sants and the construction of Estació de la Sagrera, planned for completion at the end of 2017, that will concentrate most of the traffic.
A railway station was first built here in the 19th century as the main terminus for trains arriving from France (as its name still suggests), but also for services to North East Catalonia and the Costa Brava.
Re-built and re-opened for the 1929 International Exhibition, the two monumental buildings that make up the station were designed by the architect Pedro Muguruza and inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII. They surround the railway tracks in the shape of a 'U'. In total, the station's structure is 29m tall and 195m long. The station was closed for renovation between from 1988 and 1992, reopening for the Olympic Games of 1992.
It is generally seen as the city's most beautiful station. It is worth seeing in its own right for the restrained mix of classical and more modern styles - complete with decoration in marble, bronze and crystal, and modernista and art déco motifs. Over the last three decades it has been eclipsed as Barcelona’s main station by the subterranean sprawl of Sants. Indeed, most other stations of Barcelona are at least partly underground.
The station's status as the terminus for international trains from (and through) France ended with the discontinuance of the trenhotels in 2013, which coincided with the introduction of the new high-speed daytime services to Paris, Toulouse, Lyons and Marseilles, all of which call at or terminate at Sants.
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Wikipedia