Madrid Metro

On 19 September 1916, a royal decree approved the 4-line plan for the creation of the metro of Madrid. The engineers who created the plan, Mendoza, González Echarte, and Otamendi then began the process of raising the 8 million pesetas to begin the first phase of the project, the construction of Line 1 from Sol to Cuatro Caminos. Carlos Mendoza made contact with Enrique Ocharán, the director of Banco de Vizcaya, who offered 4 million pesetas on the condition that the public pledged an additional 4 million.

Mengemor published a brochure in order to persuade people to make donations. The men were able to raise 2.5 million pesetas of the 4 million they needed. King Alfonso XIII intervened and invested 1.45 million pesetas of his own money.[11]

The first phase of construction was finished in 1919. It was constructed in a narrow section and the stations had 60 m (200 ft) platforms. The enlargement of this line and the construction of two others followed shortly after 1919.[12] The Madrid metro was inaugurated on 17 October 1919 by King Alfonso XIII.[13][14][15][16] At the time of inauguration, the metro had just one line, which ran for 3.48 kilometres (2.16 mi) between Puerta del Sol and Cuatro Caminos, with eight stops.[13]

The king, the royal family, and others, then took part in the first official metro ride which went from Cuatro Caminos to Río Rosas, and took 40 seconds. There they stopped for one minute, before traveling to the Chamberí station which took 45 seconds. The trip went all the way to the end point, Sol. The king and his family then rode the metro back to Cuatro Caminos from Sol, this time without stopping. The journey took 7 minutes and 46 seconds.[14]

After the journey, a lunch was served on the Cuatro Caminos platform, and the engineers were congratulated for creating a "miracle."[14]

Two days later, on 19 October 1919, the Madrid metro was opened to the public. On its first day, 390 trains ran, 56,220 passengers rode the metro, and the company earned 8,433 pesetas in ticket fares.[17]

During November and December 1919, the metro had an average of 43,537 passengers a day and earned an average of 6,530 pesetas a day in ticket sales. Due to their success, the company decided to expand more, and created 12,000 new shares to sell to the public in order to raise more funds to fund further expansion.[17]

The Company then began to gather materials necessary to expand the Line 1 from Sol-Progreso-Antón Martín-Atocha.

On 31 July 1920 the company submitted it proposal to extend Line 1 from Atocha to Puente de Vallecas. In 1921 the company declared its interest in beginning the line from Sol-Ventas, with the first phase of the project being built from Sol-Goya, along Calle Alcalá.

Work began on 27 March 1921 to expand the Line 1 from Atocha to Vallecas, and to begin construction on a line from Sol-Goya.[18]

On 26 December 1921 the Sol-Atocha section of the Line 1 was inaugurated, adding three new metro stops to the line: Progreso, Antón Martín, and Atocha. The king and queen, Don Alfonso XIII and Doña Victoria, attended the inauguration.[19]

In 1924, traffic in Madrid switched from driving on the left to driving on the right, but the lines of the Madrid Metro kept operating on the left hand side.[20] In 1936, the network had three lines and a branch line between Ópera and the old Estación del Norte (now Príncipe Pío). All these stations served as air raid shelters during the Spanish Civil War. After the Civil war, the public works to extend the network went on little by little. In 1944, a fourth line was constructed, absorbing the branch of Line 2 between Goya and Diego de León in 1958, a branch that had been intended to be part of Line 4 since its construction but was operated as a branch of Line 2 until construction works had finished.

In the 1960s, a suburban railway was constructed between Plaza de España and Carabanchel, linked to lines 2 (at Noviciado station with a long transfer) and 3. A fifth metro line was constructed as well with narrow sections, but 90 m platforms. Shortly after opening the first section of Line 5, the platforms of Line 1 were enlarged from 60 to 90 m, permanently closing Chamberí station since it was too close to Iglesia (less than 500 m). Chamberí has been closed ever since and was recently reopened as a museum.[21]

In the early 1970s, the network was greatly expanded to cope with the influx of population and urban sprawl from Madrid's economic boom. New lines were planned with larger 115 m long platforms. Lines 4 and 5 were enlarged as well. In 1979, bad management led to a crisis. Works already started were finished during the 1980s and all remaining projects were abandoned. After all those projects, 100 km (62 mi) of rail track were completed by 1983[22] and the suburban railway had also disappeared since it had been extended to Alonso Martínez and subsequently converted to the new Line 10.

Typical Madrid metro entrance, designed by Antonio Palacios, at Tribunal station

Work on a major expansion of the metro began in 1995, with 172 km (107 mi) of new line and 132 new stations opened by 2011, built in 4 phases.[23]

This included the extension of lines 1, 4 and 7 and the construction of a new Line 11 towards the outlying areas of Madrid. Lines 8 and 10 were joined into a longer Line 10 and a new Line 8 was constructed to expand the underground network towards the airport. The enlarged Line 9 was the first to leave the outskirts of Madrid to arrive in Rivas-Vaciamadrid and Arganda del Rey, two satellite towns located in the southeast of Madrid. Control of the network was transferred to a public enterprise, Metro de Madrid S.A.

In the early 2000s, a huge project installed approximately 50 km (31 mi) of new metro tunnels. This construction included a direct connection between downtown Madrid (Nuevos Ministerios) and the airport, a further extension of Line 8, and adding service to the outskirts with a 40 km loop called MetroSur serving Madrid's southern suburbs.

MetroSur, one of the largest ever civil engineering projects in Europe, opened on 11 April 2003. It includes 41 km (25 mi) of tunnel and 28 new stations, with a new interchange station on Line 10, connecting it to the city centre and stations linking to the local train network. Its construction began in June 2000 and the whole loop was completed in less than three years. It connects Getafe, Móstoles, Alcorcón, Fuenlabrada, and Leganés, five towns located in the area south of Madrid.

Most of the efforts of Madrid regional government in 2000s were channeled towards the enlargement of the Metro network. In the 2003–2007 term, President Esperanza Aguirre funded a multibillion-euro project, which added new lines, and joined or extended almost all of the existing metro lines. The project included the addition of 90 km (56 mi) of railway and the construction of 80 new stations. It brought stations to many districts that had never previously had Metro service (Villaverde, Manoteras, Carabanchel Alto, La Elipa, Pinar de Chamartín) and to the eastern and northern outskirts as well (Coslada, San Fernando de Henares, Alcobendas, San Sebastián de los Reyes). For the first time in Madrid, three interurban light rails (Metro Ligero or ML) lines were built to the western outskirts (Pozuelo de Alarcón, Boadilla del Monte) - mL2 and mL3 - and to the new northern districts of Sanchinarro and Las Tablas - mL1. As a last minute addition, a project on line 8 connected it to the new T4 terminal of Madrid-Barajas Airport.

Many pending expansion projects were stalled by the economic fallout of the 2008 financial crisis. In recent years, improving the existing network has taken priority over extending it, with major projects like the Plan de Accesibilidad (info board in Príncipe de Vergara) being put into place to enhance accessibility for those with physical disabilities. Currently, there are more than 530 elevators in the system,[24] a number only set to grow with the advancement of the accessibility plan. Additionally, by the end of 2020, the entire network will have gapless cell phone coverage.[25]

As both the number of trips in the Metro and the number of inhabitants of the Comunidad de Madrid have seen steady increases in recent years,[26] there has been a growing political consensus that further extensions are necessary, specifically to support the single central circular Line 6 in a system of mostly radial lines.

Line 11 will be extended by 6.3 kilometers from Plaza Elíptica towards Conde de Casal, both Line 6. Construction is set to start in 2020, with a new bus line interchange to be built at Conde de Casal. The extension will provide access to Lines 1 and 3 as well as Atocha railway station, with a new station Madrid Río to be constructed in the vicinity of the Manzanares.[27][28][29] Revised due to Coivd-19, Line 11 is presently planned to terminate near the airport, as opposed to the plan in 2007 to Avenida de la Ilustración.[30] The planned extension would start construction in 2024 and be operational in 2030.

Under the new regional government, other long-stalled expansion projects have also gained new momentum. This includes the extension of Line 5 to Barajas airport,[31] as well as a connection between Line 3 and MetroSur in the south.[32][33]

In the context of the Madrid Nuevo Norte project (previously Operación Chamartín), there are plans for the construction of a new metro line from the Chamartín railway terminal with three stations.[34]

A further extension of the Line 11 will extend from Conde de Casal to Valdebebas Norte, which will link to 2 new tunnels at Pueblo Nuevo and Mar de Cristal.

A series 2000-B "bubble" metro train on line at Casa de Campo station.

CAF series 2000: This series has two separate sub-series usually called A and B. The first batch, while reliable and practical, was extremely "box-like" in its looks. They are nicknamed 'Pandas', after a car by Seat with the same name and similar boxy design. In contrast, the B sub-series train sets can be told apart by its sleeker, rounder forms, which has granted them the nickname of "bubble" (burbuja) for their round driver cabin window. Series 2000A are currently the more numerous in the network: 530 cars[n. 3] were built and delivered between 1985 and 1993,[38] having serviced every narrow profile line. They are also among the oldest stock in operation in the Madrid Metro. The most reliable ones are being refurbished and painted with new, lighter colors like the ones used in Series 3000. Series 2000B were delivered in lesser numbers (about 126 cars) between 1997 and 1998,[39] with the inclusion of air conditioning and station announcements through pre-recorded voice messages and LED displays. They are currently used in line 5, with no plans for retirement.

A series 3000 train arriving at Avenida de Guadalajara station on Line 2.

CAF series 3000: The newest of the narrow line trainsets, series 3000 were commissioned for the reopening of line 3 after its complete renewal in the early 2000s. Their constituent subunits can be completely joined through crossable articulations, making it possible to go from the head to the tail without actually exiting the train. This has earned them the nickname of "boa", a term usually applied in Spain to double-length buses with such joints. They are currently servicing lines 2, R, 3, 4 and 5. Series 3000 trains look rather like a narrowed version of series 8000, while the interior uses mainly yellow and light blue tones.

A series 5000 train at Plaza Elíptica station on Line 6, the circular line.

CAF series 5000: Currently servicing line 9 and occasionally line 6, this model has had a long history: the first trainsets were delivered in 1974[40] for the newly opened, first wide-profile line 7, while the latest subseries, 5500, of which 24 trainsets of 6 cars each were built, entered service in 1993.[41] They were the last to use the old, square "box-like" design from CAF, which was already becoming unpopular for its exaggerate priming of effectiveness versus aesthetics. The first iteration featured a wood lookalike coating for the inner walls and a novel seat distribution in two-seat rows perpendicular to the train walls, making them look not unlike older regional trains. Subseries 5100-5200 returned to the traditional seating along the train walls, but still included another feature from the first iteration, automatic opening of all the gates in the train. The final subseries, 5500, has a distinct, darker color scheme and returns to the usual on-demand opening of train gates with a button on each one. Being the oldest rolling stock in operation in the wide profile lines, many cars were retired or sold to the Buenos Aires Underground for operation on Line B to make up for shortfalls on the line following extensions.

A series 6000 train in La Poveda station on line

CAF series 6000: This model, of which 29 trainsets were built and delivered in 1998,[42] was the first by CAF to feature a new, sleeker and rounder design. As it was to serve TFM, the stretch of line 9 connecting Madrid to Arganda del Rey (the first extension of the Metro network outside Madrid proper), its interior resembles the regional Cercanías trains more closely than any other Metro trains: compact seats in couples set perpendicularly to the train walls, more places to grasp in case of a sudden brake/acceleration, etc. They were also the first to include luminous panels stating their destination, as the line they service was effectively split in two stretches, and travellers had to switch trains at Puerta de Arganda. Finally, they primed the "boa train" layout, but the walkable aisle only spanned two cars, while a trainset would usually carry 4 or 6. These trains are equipped with automatic train protection (ATP) and automatic train operation (ATO).[43] Series 6000 is currently doing service on line 9b (TFM). In 2013, 73 of the 108 cars ordered were sold to Buenos Aires for operation on Line B of the metro system; the sale totalled €32.6 million for the retirement of Japanese-built units, with a further 13 cars ordered at a later date.[44][45][46][47][48][49][50] These trains have been widely criticised in Argentina, and been called the worst purchase in the history of the Buenos Aires Underground.[51]

A series 7000 train im Batán station on line

Ansaldobreda series 7000 & 9000: The first purchase to a manufacturer other than CAF, and to a non-Spanish dealer, 37 series 7000 trainsets service the extremely busy line 10. They were the first in the network to feature a full "boa" layout, allowing commuters to traverse the whole six cars. They are extremely functional, with ample 1.3m doors and a sleek, unobtrusive design for a total capacity of 1,260 people per trainset (180 seated). This model also features two TV screens in each car, but they are left unused, both regularly or in emergencies. Series 9000 trains are similar to their previous incarnation, but include better accessibility for disabled people and more safety measures, such as visual and auditive warnings for the train gates and more effective emergency brakes, they also brought small aesthetic changes like the removal of the wood effect from the ceiling and the change of the red top stripe of the doors to a blue color. Series 7000 currently service the main part of line 10 from Puerta del Sur to Tres Olivos and occasionally on line 9; while series 9000 comprise the main fleet of line 7 and 12, occasionally on line 10, and on line 9 to cover for the sold 6000s.

A series 8000 train waiting on line at Pinar del Rey station

CAF series 8000: Originally designed for the MetroSur line 12, 45 trainsets were built and delivered by CAF in 2002.[52] Each one is composed of three cars or four cars joined in the "boa" layout, with the three car version servicing line 12 and the four car version servicing line 8 as-is, while line 9 & line 10 services use two such trainsets to form a MRM-MRM configuration for a maximum of 1,070 passengers (144 seated). The interior distribution is rather like that of series 7000, with a bigger clear area (i.e. without seating) in the first car for people carrying luggage to/from the airport and disabled people in wheelchairs. Like the narrower series 3000 trainsets, its bogies are insonorized and feature a hybrid rubber-pneumatic suspension system. Series 8000 primed the introduction of regenerative braking in the Madrid Metro. The system reverses the normal circuit of the electric motors when braking, thus making the deceleration return power to the network. Also, they feature the now-standard informative panels and gate activity warnings in the interior. A second batch was ordered for line 11 to replace the series 3000 operating on the line since the extension of the line to La Fortuna in 2010. The original batch currently services lines 12 and 8, while also providing rush hour support to lines 9 and 10 whilst the second batch currently services line 11.

A series 8400 train on line

CAF series 8400: Derived from the recent series 8000 trains, the 8400 series are the newest train type to enter service on the Madrid Metro on line 6 since 2010 to complement the older series 5000 serving on that line. It currently services line 6.

An Alstom Citadis tram on Metro Ligero line at Aravaca station

Alstom Citadis 302: The vehicles serving the light rail lines are low-floor articulated trams in a five-section "boa" configuration, which allows for a maximum of about 200 passengers per tram (60 seated). They can reach a top speed of 100 km/h (65 mph), but in practice they are limited to 70 km/h (45 mph) in most track stretches, and even less in urban sprawls. The tram features a bell-like proximity warning that is activated when the train approaches a station or a level crossing with pedestrians, which has given rise to complaints from people living near the tracks because of the noise generated. Safety features also include door activity warnings for passengers and emergency brakes comparatively more effective than in any other train dedicated to Metro service, as the trams, though remaining in their own lanes separated from other traffic, can cross roads and populated areas.

Currently, Metro Ligero has four lines, although one of them is located outside of the city of Madrid in its entirety:

• Metro Ligero 1/Line ML-1: Pinar de Chamartín - Las Tablas: 5,4 km and 9 stations, 5 of which are underground.
• Metro Ligero 2/Line ML-2: Colonia Jardín – Estación de Aravaca: 8,7 km and 13 stations, 3 of which are underground.
• Metro Ligero 3/Line ML-3: Colonia Jardín – Puerta de Boadilla: 13,7 km and 16 stations, 1 of them is underground - and is shared with ML-2.
• Metro Ligero 4/Line ML4: Tranvía de Parla: 8,3 km and 15 stations.

Historic rolling stock of the Madrid Metro.

Until the early 1990s and the transfer of the Metro system to the Autonomous Community of Madrid, the rate of investment in the network by the central government was extremely low,[n. 4] and thus very old trains were used way beyond their intended lifespans. Particularly loathed was the case of line 5, which was serviced by the nearly 40-year-old series 300 and 1000 from CAF. It was not uncommon that a child would ride to school on the same train his/her parents took decades earlier. Some renewals, along with the purchases of series 2000A and 5000, were started by the socialist regional government of Joaquín Leguina, but in 1995 the People's Party took over the government with the promise to widely extend and improve the Metro service. New lines were built and old ones refurbished: line 5 service was disturbed for several years as some stations at a time were closed and refitted, while line 3 was closed for two consecutive summers in order to expand its platforms to 90 m. Then, new rolling stock was also requested: 1998 saw the arrival of the first CAF series 2000B, retiring the infamous series 1000. Initially the better-preserved series 300 were refitted and painted in the new blue-white color scheme (from the old red corporate image), but they were also retired with the arrival of more series 2000B and, finally, series 3000.