Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya

Industry	Railway
Founded	September 5, 1979
Headquarters	Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain)
Key people	Enric Ticó i Buxadós (President)
Number of employees	1534 (2008)
Subsidiaries	FGC Operadora FGC Infraestructures FGC Enginyeria FGC Turisme i Muntanya
Website	www.fgc.cat

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan pronunciation: [ˌfɛrukəˈriɫz ðə ɫə ʒənəɾəɫiˈtad də kətəˈɫuɲə], "Catalan Government Railways"), or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain.

The lines operated include metro and commuter lines in and around the city of Barcelona, tourist mountain railways, and rural railway lines. They include 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) of 600 mm (1 ft 11 ⁵⁄₈ in) gauge route, 140 kilometres (87 mi) of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) metre gauge route, 42 kilometres (26 mi) of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge route, and 89 kilometres (55 mi) of broad gauge route, making the FGC one of the few railway companies to operate on four different gauges.

Whilst most lines are conventional adhesion railways, the FGC also operates two rack railways and four funicular railways.

FGC was founded on September 5, 1979 to manage lines whose ownership was transferred from the state-owned FEVE to the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1978 as part of the process of regional devolution under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. Its oldest line, the standard gauge Línia Barcelona-Vallès however dates back to 1863 which was built and operated by Companyia del Ferrocarril de Barcelona a Sarrià from 1863 until 1874, and Ferrocarril de Sarrià a Barcelona (FSB) (with Ferrocarrils de Catalunya (FCC)) from 1874 until financial difficulties forced FSB and FCC to be acquired by FEVE in 1977, which operated it until FGC took over the line in 1979. The second oldest line the Llobregat–Anoia line was opened in 1892 as an interurban tram using metre gauge tracks, which was taken over by the Companyia General dels Ferrocarrils Catalans (CGFC) in 1912 and transformed it into a train line; CGFC being later taken over by FSB and FCC, followed by the broad gauge Lleida – La Pobla de Segur line in 1951 and operated by RENFE until it was transferred to FGC in 2005-2010.