San Mamés Metro Station

Santimami/San Mamés is a transfer station in Bilbao, Basque Country (Spain). It is located in the neighbourhood of Basurto, part of the Basurto-Zorroza district of Bilbao. The station connects the rapid transit network of Metro Bilbao with the commuter rail services of Cercanías Bilbao as well as Bilbao's Tram. The station is a very important interchange hub due to connecting four of the major suburban lines that traverse the Bilbao metropolitan area and Termibus, the city's main bus station. The station is also located in close proximity to San Mamés Stadium, home of the Athletic Club Bilbao.

History

The station, originally named simply San Mamés, opened as part of Metro Bilbao's line 1 on 11 November 1995. The station was constructed below Sabino Arana Av., the main access to the city from the A-8 motorway, and between the Termibus bus station and the San Mamés Stadium. Thus the station had a very high traffic of passengers commuting daily from other parts of the metropolitan area to the bus station, and to the stadium on match days.

In 2000, the San Mamés station of the commuter rail network Cercanías Bilbao (operated by Cercanías) was opened on a nearby location, as part of the new underground section of lines C-1 and C-2. Despite both stations being in close proximity, they were not physically connected. In addition to that, a third San Mamés station was opened in 2002 as part of Bilbao's Tram; unlike the other two the station was located overground and closer to the bus station.

The interchange station was built in 2004 allowing for an easy connection between Metro Bilbao and Cercanías Bilbao, which now have a common access and hall, which also connects them directly to the Termibus entrance and the tram stop, which was relocated closer to the new station. In 2017 work began for the construction of a new underground bus station, which involved temporarily shutting down the direct connection between the interchange station and the bus terminal. The connection is expected to be reopened once the new bus station opens at some point in 2019.

Station layout

Santimami/San Mamés is in truth two separate underground stations connected by a common hall. The metro station follows the typical cavern-shaped layout of most underground Metro Bilbao stations designed by Norman Foster, with the main hall located directly above the rail tracks, whereas the Cercanías Bilbao station follows a rectangular design with high ceilings.

Access

• 17 Sabino Arana Av. (Sabino Arana exit, Metro Bilbao only)
• 23 Luis Briñas St. (Briñas - Termibús - Renfe exit)
• 13 Luis Briñas St. (Briñas exit, Metro Bilbao only)
• Ingeniero Torres Quevedo Plaza (Torres Quevedo exit, Cercanías Bilbao only)
• Jose Antonio Zunzunegui Av. (Bilbao's Tram stop)

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Santimami/San Mamés station" and modified on 02 June 2020 according to the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.