The Metro is the most efficient means of transport in the city apart from the rush hours which are from 7:30am to 9:30am, and 6:00pm to 8:30pm. There are two companies operating in Barcelona, the Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC). The FGC operates on one line, whereas TMB operates on all the remaining lines.
Metro lines all carry a number and a color as identifiers, with the direction displayed by the name of the line terminus. A single TMB ticket costs about Euro1.10 and is validated before boarding the train and must be on hand at all times, if you lose it, you could face a Euro 40 penalty!
Tickets are easily available at the TMB customer service centers, ticket offices and at automatic vending machines at the stations. A multiperson, 10-ride ticket is also available, known as the T-10, for about €6.90 and is a good deal, and there is another personal 50-ride monthly ticket that costs about €27. These tickets can also be used on buses and trams. There are also several 1 day to 5 day passes available that can be used for unlimited travel on the metro and bus networks, and can be obtained for about €9.50 from TMB’s customer service centers and information offices.
There is another pass, the Barcelona Card, with which you can travel on public transport for free and it also grants free admission and discounts at about 100 visitor attractions. The card is available for periods of 2 days and 5 days and costs about €23 for the former, and €34 for the latter.
The TMB lines run from 5:00am till midnight on Mondays through Thursday, from 5:00am to 2:00am on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 6:00am till midnight on Sundays.
The contact information for both the TMB and the FGC are given below.
The FGC line which is fully integrated with the rest of the TMB metro system runs from 5:45am till midnight on Mondays through to Thursdays, and from 5:50am till 2:15am on Fridays and Saturdays, while on Sundays, it runs from 5:50am till midnight
TMB
Telephone: (93) 298 7000
Website: http://www.tmb.net/
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 0800-2000
Office Locations: In the foyer of the Universitat metro station
Diagonal metro station
Sants Estacio metro station
Sagrada Familia metro station
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya – FGC
Telephone: (93) 205 1515
Website: http://www.fgc.es/
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 0700-2100
Office Locations: Catalunya Metro Station
