Tramvia Blau's 125th anniversary

This weekend, 7 and 8 November, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and Barcelona’s Sarrià - Sant Gervasi district celebrate the 125th anniversary of Tramvia Blau. It has been closed for repairs and modernisation since 2018, with little sign of going into passenger service anytime soon. Since then, trams 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 129 have been declared cultural heritage items (Bé Cultural d’Interès Nacional) on 23 May 2023 and is the oldest tramway in Barcelona.

The Tramvia Blau first opened on 29 October 1901, transporting passengers along Avinguda del Tibidabo from Plaça Kennedy to Plaça Doctor Andreu at the foot of the Tibidabo hill. The Tibidabo funicular, also inaugurated at the same time, then takes passengers further up to the peak with panoramic views of the city, the Tibidabo amusement park built in 1899, and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart built in the 1900s. Tramvia Blau’s 1.3-kilometre route was in operation even after 1971, when the last two trams in Barcelona stopped service as their routes were replaced by trolleybuses. In 1979, the private operator gave ownership of the tram to the city, and in 1981 TMB took over.

Since then, the Tramvia Blau has continued serving locals and tourists up until 28 January 2018, when both the tracks and rolling stock needed to be renovated. Unfortunately, almost 9 years later, the service hasn’t resumed. The route was replaced by the T2C line of the TibiBus shuttling passengers between Plaça Kennedy and Plaça Doctor Andreu to use the funicular. While the funicular was being renovated, the T2C took passengers right up to the amusement park. Unlike the Tramvia Blau, the renovations of the funicular did complete and on 12 June 2021 it was once again inaugurated, after its last rennovation in 1958. This time it was rebranded as the Cuca del Llum which translates to Glow Worm.

For the 125th anniversary of Tramvia Blau, we decided to take a family trip to see tram number 5 on display. TMB brought it out of the workshop for the weekend of 7 and 8 November and placed it right where Plaça Kennedy and Avinguda Tibidabo meet. Taking the L7 metro from Plaça Catalunya brought us right to it. Next weekend, TMB will open up the workshop for visitors to have a look too.