The opening of Metrovalencia’s new Line 9 in March 2015 led to both a restructuring of the previous network (renumbering and rerouting of some lines) and this new system map.
This version differs from previous ones in that it differentiates between “metro” and “tram” services – using a solid line with white station dots for the former, and an two-toned line with coloured station dots for the latter. I’m not entirely sure the differentiation needs to be made at all – the entire system is a bit of a hybrid anyway, having the features of a true metro, commuter rail and street-running tram in different areas – but it’s carried off pretty well overall. The use of more subdued colours for the tram lines certainly helps to visually separate them from the more brightly-hued Metro lines.
While the loop at the eastern (beach) end of Line 4 is shown well, I’m less convinced by the loop for Line 6. I think that the northbound track (the leftmost one) should just drop down to rejoin the bi-directional part of the line just above the Mediterrani station, perhaps with a little curve to the south-east, just to reinforce the directional flow of the traffic.
The interchange stations stand out well from normal ones, but use an exotic variety of shapes: rectangles, squares, a triangle and an overly complex “L” shape for the main interchange at Angel Guimera. The triangle at Empalme could definitely have been solved using three dots in a straight line (yellow at top, then blue, then magenta), and I think a similar approach could have been taken with Angel Guimera – a vertical pill with yellow at the top, then magenta, brown, red and green, sitting just to the left of the crossover of the tracks.
Technically, the map is drawn quite well, except for some sloppy station dot placement west of Faitanar on the main Lines 3/5/9 alignment. I’d prefer to see a curve coming out the right hand side of Rosas station for the right-angle that Line 9 takes northwards, as I always think direction changes within a station look a little awkward.
The typeface used shares a lot of similarities with Klavika, but isn’t. Anyone able to ID it more positively?
Our rating: A solid evolution on the previous map, information-rich and nice and easy to read. A few technical errors and a PDF download that renders type terribly on-screen drops this down half a star. Three-and-a-half stars.
Source: Metrovalencia downloads page. Note that they also offer two alternative maps on their site: a fully-geographic representation, and an “urban” map, which shows the city accurately, but switches to a diagrammatic representation for the farther-flung parts of the system. Covering all their bases, map-wise!