Metrovalencia Line 3
From the airport to Rafelbunyol across València: the busiest line on the whole network.
About Line 3
Line 3 crosses the metropolitan area from south-west to north-east over 24.691 km and 27 stations. It runs at street level between Rafelbunyol and Almàssera and underground from Alboraia Peris Aragó to its terminus at Aeroport, which is also the only station on the network in the “+” fare area.
Between Alameda and Aeroport it shares its infrastructure with Line 5, and between Alboraia Peris Aragó and Roses with Line 9. You can change to lines 1 and 2 at Àngel Guimerà and to the Line 4 and Line 6 trams at Benimaclet. It is the line that takes you from the airport to the city centre without changing trains.
Stations on Line 3
27 stations, 19 of them with an interchange to another line (marked with a ring and the colours of the other lines).
Line 3 timetable
| Day | First – last |
|---|---|
| Monday to Thursday | 04:52 – 00:25 |
| Friday | 04:52 – 03:02 |
| Saturday | 05:09 – 03:00 |
| Sunday and public holidays | 06:29 – 00:30 |
Earliest and latest time at any station on the line, from the timetable published by FGV. On Fridays and Saturdays service runs on after midnight: that is why the last time is earlier than the first.
Services per hour in each direction
| Day | 07:00 | 08:00 | 12:00 | 18:00 | 22:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday to Thursday | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Friday | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Saturday | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Sunday and public holidays | 1.5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Counted at Alameda over the full timetable. A value of 4 means one train every fifteen minutes in each direction.
History
It started life as the trenet line linking Pont de Fusta with Rafelbuñol, running along the surface of what is now avenida de Alfauir. A tunnel under the city to bring it into the centre was planned in 1992, and on 5 May 1995 the section between Palmaret, in Alboraya, and Alameda, beneath the old bed of the Turia, opened. On 16 September 1998 it was extended to Avinguda del Cid, and that extension included the service branch between Colón and Jesús that later passed to Line 5 and, in 2015, to Line 7.
It reached Mislata Almassil on 20 May 1999 and Manises airport in April 2007. Early in 2008 work began on putting the line underground through Alboraya, producing two underground stations, Alboraia Palmaret and Alboraia Peris Aragó. From 1995 the line also keeps one of the network’s signature features: the stations of Machado, Benimaclet and Facultats – Manuel Broseta, designed by Lourdes García Sogo and Carlos Meri Cucart, with bands of coloured marble and works by Valencian artists such as Carmen Calvo, Artur Heras and Rosa Torres, plus Alameda station, designed by Santiago Calatrava. The 2024 floods suspended service on the line between 30 October and 2 December.
The service
This is the line with the most even service on the network: of the 1,005 runs in the timetable, only 78 turn back at Machado and 38 at Alboraia Peris Aragó, so nearly every train covers the full route between the airport and Rafelbunyol. In the morning rush hour, measured at Alameda, there are about four trains an hour in each direction, and at weekends the peak stays at about three. It is also Metrovalencia’s busiest line by passenger numbers, which you notice on the central section, where its trains add to those of lines 5, 7 and 9. On Friday and Saturday nights the service runs on into the early hours; on Sundays it starts later and finishes earlier.
The trains
The first trains to run on it were the UTE units of the 3900 series, built in 1995; today the service uses 4300-series trains, the same as on the other metro lines. The overhead power supply is not the same all along the route: between Alameda and Avinguda del Cid it is a rigid conductor rail fixed to the tunnel roof, because the tunnels there are single-track and circular in section, while on the double-track and surface sections it is a conventional overhead wire.
Frequently asked questions
Machado, Benimaclet and Facultats – Manuel Broseta were designed by Lourdes García Sogo and Carlos Meri Cucart, with bands of coloured marble and murals and sculptures by Valencian artists such as Carmen Calvo, Artur Heras and Rosa Torres. The fourth of that batch was Alameda, by Santiago Calatrava, beneath the old bed of the Turia.
Because between Alameda and Avinguda del Cid the route was built as two circular tunnels with one track each, running side by side or one above the other, as at Xàtiva. Lines 3, 5 and 9 share this section, and it is the narrowest point on the whole network.
Yes: Aeroport is the western terminus of Line 3 and of Line 5 too, so you can go straight there from Xàtiva, Colón or Àngel Guimerà. Bear in mind that it is the only station on the network in the “+” fare area, so the ticket costs more than a normal journey.