Tram system Alicante City

A fast , comfortable and efficient way of getting around the city of Alicante and the surrounding areas

The Alicante Tram, trademarked as Alicante Metropolitan TRAM or TRAM Metropolitano de Alicante, operates throughout the city of Alicante and its surrounding area. The modern tram service is run by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) and was inaugurated on the 15^th August 2003 to replace the pre-exiting narrow gauge diesel trains connecting Alicante and El Campello.

There is a light rail transit with a partially underground tramway through the city centre of Alicante as well as a tram-train connecting Alicante with Benidorm and a commuter rail from Benidorm to Altea, Dénia and Calpe.

History of Alicante trams

The tram service in Alicante started on the 13^th July in 1893 and by the 1900s it expanded to Mutxamel, Elche, Crevillent and San Vicente del Raspeig, home to the University of Alicante (UA). The trams began as simple horse-drawn streetcars until 1903 when the city industrialized and introduced steam engine-powered vehicles.

Then in 1923 an electrical system was constructed for the trams and by the 1940s the network had expanded considerably and was extensively used throughout most of the city. However in the 1950s tram usage gradually decreased due to the high electricity costs, making people start to favour the more affordable automobile services in the area, causing the trams services to completely close down in 1969.

Years later in 1999 the trams successfully returned after a new route was inaugurated connecting Plaza del Mar with Albufereta, and by 2003 the route even extended as far as El Campello.

Alicante Tram lines

Line 1 (tram –train) Alicante city centre to Benidorm (70 minutes). In Benidorm the train connects with Line 9 (diesel train) to Dénia.

Line 2 (tram) Alicante city centre to the General Hospital, the University of Alicante and San Vicente del Raspeig (15 minutes).

Line 3 (tram) Coastal stopping line from Alicante city centre to El Campello

Line 4 (tram) Alicante city centre to Playa de San Juan, doing a loop of San Juan (30 minutes)

Line 9 (train) Benidorm to Dénia along the coast, stopping at Altea and Calpe.

Useful Information

Lines 1 to 4 can be accessed from different underground stations located in Alicante city. The underground tram stations can be located at Marq Castillo, (home to the Museo MARQ), Plaza de los Luceros, Mercado Central, La Goteta Plaza Mar 2 (Only line 2), and Sangueta (Lines 1, 3 and 4).

Each underground tram station is clearly marked and has steps, elevators and escalators leading down to the ticket machines and tram services. On the walls of the tram stations there are maps that are colour coded to differentiate between the different tram- lines and their destinations.

The price of a journey depends on the zone in which visitors wish to travel, and these are also clearly marked on large information boards in the tram station. In total there are 6 zones marked A to F.

The most popular journeys are within the standard metropolitan ‘zone A’, (encompassing San Vicente del Raspeig and El Campello), and cost 1.45 euros for a single trip.

Tickets can be purchased from the self-service ticket machines on entering the stations, and can then be scanned on passing through the ticket barriers leading to the tram- lines. Passengers leaving and returning to a tram station only need to scan their tickets through the barriers in the station.

If travellers board the tram at any other stop without a station they can purchase a ticket from the ticket machines located in the tram carriages and scan their tickets on the sensors located by the carriage doors, so that their journeys can be recorded.

There are information desks at all of the main tram stations as well as vending machines and digital screens indicating the time of the departures and arrivals of incoming trams.