New train and metro services will be introduced as of Thursday, March 13
From Thursday 13th March, Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca (SFM) is introducing more trains in its regular schedule during working hours, from Monday to Friday, to extend connections between Palma and Inca and on the metro to the UIB, in addition to the reinforcements incorporated since September, with an increase in capacity by 3,500 seats at rush hour.
These new services will reinforce the train and metro timetables at rush hour, providing users with more frequencies and more capacity at times of high demand. This reinforcement is a continuation of the improvements implemented last year, with the increase in special services on the train and the reinforcement of the metro since September.
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SFM reinforces the regular service with more trains to increase capacity by 3,500 seats at rush hour between Palma and Inca and the metro to the UIB
‘A new step forward in improving public transport and reinforcing the train and metro service’, stressed the Balearic Islands Minister of Housing, Territory and Mobility, José Luis Mateo, during the press conference, together with the Director General of Mobility, Lorena del Valle, and the manager of SFM, José Ramón Orta.
On the metro, the new reinforcement between 1.35 p.m. and 2.35 p.m., and the maintenance of the reinforcement made in September between 7.15 a.m. and 9.15 a.m., increase the capacity of the service by more than 2,500 seats in high-demand sections. On the train, new services have been set up to increase capacity by around 1,000 seats in the early hours of the day.
Three new services have been added to the daily train schedule from Monday to Friday: two Inca-Palma trains departing at 6:08 am and 6:38 am, and one Palma-Inca at 6:00 am. Thus, the first train from Inca is brought forward by 10 minutes, arriving at the Intermodal station at 6:42 a.m.; and by adding a second train from Inca at 6:38 a.m., the 6:16 a.m. Manacor-Palma train, which is currently very busy, is freed up.
As for the metro, two new services have been added between the Intermodal and the UIB, one in each direction. The metro service which until now left the Intermodal at 1.55 pm will be brought forward to 1.50 pm, and a new metro service will be added at 2 pm. In the opposite direction, the metro that departs at 2.15 pm from the UIB will now leave at 2.10 pm and a new metro will be added at 2.20 pm.
This will increase frequencies between 1.35 pm and 2.15 pm, a time slot with high occupancy on the metro, and 840 more seats will be made available in this time slot. This reinforcement is in addition to the one introduced in September, with four new services at peak times, two in the Intermodal-UIB direction and two in the opposite direction.
SFM is maintaining this improvement, which involved doubling frequencies at peak times and providing 1,680 seats in the 7.30 am – 7.40 am and 8.30 am – 8.40 am time slots. Thus, in just over five months, six daily services have been added to the metro line, with an increase in capacity of more than 2,500 seats.
Increase in special services and reinforcements during 2024
The reinforcement of train and metro frequencies is one of the Government’s commitments and one of the measures to improve the service that it intends to implement progressively. During 2024, the incorporation of new reinforcements and more special services has already meant a significant increase.
Since the end of November last year, SFM has been offering reinforcement trains and special services on an almost continuous basis, in an additional schedule unprecedented in recent years. Thus, every weekend from 30 November to 19 January this year, the service was reinforced with sixteen additional trains from early afternoon until the end of the service in the evening every Saturday and Sunday.
In addition, last summer, for the first time, the regular service was maintained throughout July, as the winter timetable was extended to the second half of July when previously the reduction in summer frequencies began in this period, which in 2024 was limited to August.
To this must be added the special night trains that were scheduled during the Christmas holidays and for the Sant Antoni and Sant Sebastià celebrations, as well as special trains for the Three Kings’ parade, the Correfoc de Sant Sebastià, the Rueta and the carnival roas.
Incorporation of new trains into the service
Likewise, the new trains acquired by SFM began operating on the Sa Pobla line on 5 March, with eight daily services. Two of the new quadruple units began operating on the metro line last September, and now, with the other three, they are beginning to provide service on the train network.
SFM plans to introduce these new units on the train lines progressively, in order to improve the safety of the service. The five new trains that arrived last year completed their testing period at the end of December.
Practical and theoretical training of train drivers in the operation of the new units has also been necessary, and it should be noted that practical training cannot begin until the trains have passed the test phase.