Madrid's newest metro station, opened on 25 March 2015, with a large mural dedicated to famous guitarist Paco de Lucía
Since the 1980s I have been to Madrid several times, and especially towards the end of the 1990s, when metro construction was booming and I was living in Barcelona, I came regularly and on some occasions had the chance to even visit some construction sites. I have always had a warm welcome, so it is hard to criticise things, but I'll try to be fair... This time I stayed for a full week to explore not only the Metro system, but also some of the outer areas, like the tram in Parla, or the mountain railway C-9 in the Sierra – but the main purpose of this visit was to get lots of new photos for my forthcoming "Metro & Tram Atlas Spain", now set for publication in September 2015.
All in all, I would say,
Madrid has one of the best transport systems in the world thanks to
the amazing effort made between 1995 and 2011 when the Metro network
was expanded significantly now covering almost every neighbourhood,
plus a rather good Cercanías system which can be classified as
S-Bahn/RER and on some sections offers a metro-like service. While
fare integration has been quite good for season-ticket holders for
many years, unfortunately it does not exist for occasional riders.
Typical of Spain, single rides using multiple-ride tickets are rather
cheap, so this may not be perceived as such an inconvenience, but
again, it is somehow unfair for someone who needs to catch the Metro
and a bus to be obliged to pay two fares, whereas someone who needs
to take three metro lines to get to his destination, only has to pay
one fare. While anything within the city of Madrid is included in
fare zone A, some legs of the Metro extend beyond this zone and then
the fare structure even for the Metro gets a bit funny. As long as
you have a season ticket, the outer fare zones apply (B1 and B2), but
if you need to get a single ticket, you'll need to know which outer
leg you're on as each has a different fare and a different combined
ticket with the zone A metro network. This results from the fact that
these outer stretches of L7, L9 and L10 plus the entire L12
(MetroSur) have a special concession – but who cares? It is not the
passenger's duty to know who the operator is, so at least the fares
should be the same and easy to understand and to present in a list of
fares, but Madrid's metro fares have become a special case. And
stupidly, on L11, also the last station lies outside zone A. A nice
voice reminds passengers that they need the respective ticket to exit
from those stations. As the stations in the central area don't have
exit control, these special fares are also checked in quite an
excessive number of different ways, especially as the fare boundary
does not necessarily coincide with the 'change of train' required on
some lines.
Ticket gates on the platform at Tres Olivos between L10's northern and main sections
While on L7 and L10 (Las Tablas and Puerta del Sur) there
are gates on the platforms, at Puerta de Arganda on L9 there are none
(I wonder if they have some sporadic ticket checks there, because
otherwise people coming from Arganda or Rives could use the entire
metro network with a ticket just for the outer L9 (which passengers
need to know is "TFM"!).
Ticket gates at Puerta de Sur between L10 and L12, with large landscape mural
And I think Madrid's
tickets are too small! Like the original Metro, the size of the
tickets was also copied from Paris, and I was always afraid that I
might lose mine. Although I had bought a tourist pass for the entire
region (called zone T) for seven days (€70.80), it stopped working
properly on the second day when I was out of town exploring the Metro
Ligero and trying to return into the city from Aravaca on a Renfe
Cercanías train. As Renfe just accepts this ticket but doesn't sell
it, they couldn't do anything about it, but they opened the gate for
me. So I had to go to Atocha and find a Metro employee who exchanged
it, obviously it happens regularly. For regular users they already
have creditcard-sized contactless cards which will ultimately replace
the tiny magnetic tickets.
Well', let's leave the
chaotic fare system (we'll come back to it later when talking about
the Metro Ligero) and have a closer look at the Metro as such.
TFM section of L9, with stork nests on the overhead poles at Rivas-Vaciamadrid
Surprisingly, or
fortunately, the Madrid Metro is one of the cleanest I know, probably
only beaten by the super-polished Russian metros. There is no
graffiti or scratching, and there are numerous vigilants. Generally,
the stations are much better ventilated than in Barcelona, although
some of the older stations in the city centre had a strange smell as
if there was a problem with sewers nearby. All in all, Madrid's Metro
feels rather safe, people behave properly and service is quite
adequate with the last trains running around 1:30, although no night
service on weekends as of yet. On the busier (mostly older) lines,
headways could be shorter, especially on weekends, when most lines
operate every 7 minutes or so.
I like Madrid's Metro
logo, it is very emblematic and traditional, and even including the
word "Metro". I also like the way it is placed at most
stations, sitting on a kind of arch on top of the stairs that lead
down into the Metro. Many of the newer stations, however, have an
encased entrance and the logo is only mounted on the wall, not
floating in the air.
At several places I have seen a signpost showing
the way to the Metro, sometimes saying '200 m', for example, but
unfortunately this sign does not say to which station it will take
you. This would not only be useful for Metro passengers, but also for
pedestrians or car drivers lost in the big city. With the same goal,
I would also welcome a Metro logo at some road intersections, as it
would be better visible from some distance whereas the logo at the
entrances is often hidden if you look for an entrance from further
away.
What I appreciate most are
the generous spaces of the newer stations, which is, however,
contrasted by the rather narrow platforms of the older stations,
modelled after the Paris Metro with their vaults and initially just
60 m long platforms. Whereas these have later been extended on L1 and
L3, they are still that short on L2 and L4. And while I enjoy the
simple, though elegant design of the new stations, I wonder whether
it was really necessary to restyle many of the older stations in the
same way, resulting in a somewhat uniform look of the Metro.
Typical refurbished station on one of the older lines, with the station name actually meaning 'narrow' - a hint at the platform width?
And
while I appreciate the use of different colours for individual
stations, there is no real logic behind the choice of colours, so it
is hard to associate a certain colour with an individual station. I
think there was an initial idea of using white for interchange
stations, but this idea was already dropped when Mar de Cristal
opened in red in 1998. Already back in the 1920s, Grenander had
developed a returning sequence of colours for the Berlin U-Bahn, so
people would know that blue always follows white, for example, but
nothing like this is recognisable in Madrid, the colours seem to be
used at random and the same colour may even appear in two adjacent
stations. In fact, on L6, where most stations are interchanges, the
predominant colour of the refurbished stations seems to be white.
With many of the older stations, now refurbished, having lost a lot
of their original charm, it is good to have Chamberí on L1 now as a
museum. This station was closed in the 1960s when the platforms in
the other stations were extended. Some stations on L4 still look
quite original although with their huge advertising boards the tiling
is hardly visible.
Another weak point of the
Madrid Metro is the often long walk between two lines. In a
user-friendly way, this situation is even shown on metro maps. The
walk is especially long between L6 and its intersection lines, as the
L6 stations are not only at some distance from the respective
interchange station, but also at a considerable depth, and unlike on
newer intersections, the corridors and escalator shafts are much
smaller and therefore less pleasant compared to the open-space,
almost excessive escalators at Chamartín. This station is the most
Berlinesque, not in style, but in generous provision for future lines
that might never happen... There are six platforms all in all, so if
the future lines are built, cross-platform interchange will be
possible between two lines on each level in one (opposite) direction
(similar to Pinar de Chamartín L1/L4), other transfers will be done
via a huge intermediate level between the two platform levels. The
future lines in questions are L11 which should one day reach
Chamartín from the south via the east, and L14, which would take
over the northern part of L10, while L10 would be extended north
through the redevelopment area of the northern Castellana.
Future-proof station design at Chamartín, waiting for L11 parallel to L1
Open-space escalators between L1 (level -4) and L10 (level -2) at Chamartín
The network layout is what
it is, the result of a long history, so it is certainly not ideal,
but a lot has been done to optimise it, especially by creating the
long north-south axis L10, but many of the busiest sections still
correspond to the old and small-profile lines L1-L5, while the newer
lines, especially L7 and L9 seem oversized. Certainly the huge
circular line L12 (Metrosur) has also remained far behind
expectations, still running with 3-car trains on a 7 1/2-minute
headway. The odd line, and each city has one, is certainly L11, only
a short and sad stub of a huge project. It is fairly patronised,
though, but very badly linked to the rest of the network, just at Pl.
Eliptica to L6 via long corridor, and as L6 is circular, many
passengers will have to change a second time to get into the city
centre, and two transfers on L6 will increase journey times
significantly. So, in my opinion, extending L11 to Atocha Renfe
should have the highest priority now, and then I wouldn't take it to
the eastern districts which already have L9 as some sort of
tangential line, but directly north to Nuevos Ministerios to link it
to L8, which has a very unnatural terminus there. In this way, L11
would be linked to several other lines and airport passengers would
get a direct ride into the city centre and the AVE hub at Atocha,
too. Now, many passengers change to L4 at Mar de Cristal which takes
a while to get into the centre, and then many people will have to
change again to get to Sol, which can be inconvenient with luggage as
many of the older stations don't have lifts.
Line panels inside the trains in the style of the now-banned metro map can still be seen on L8 and L11 trains
Madrid's fun line is, of
course, the Ramal (R) from Príncipe Pío to Ópera, which certainly
provides an important service, a bit like the Waterloo & City
Line in London. Unfortunately its Ópera station now also appears in
boring white, whereas previously it boasted red and white tiles.
Ópera Ramal station before and after refurbishment
Another major weak point of the system is its high number of stations
that have only one exit, or at least only one exit from the platform,
which is not only inconvenient as many passengers will have to walk
long detours, but can also be a bit claustrophobic when you have long
and often narrow side platforms with an 'escape' only at one end.
This may be an issue in case of fire or other technical problems, but
also in case of crime, although as said before, the system looks safe
from this point of view and video cameras are everywhere and the next
vigilant probably not far away (often having a chat with the ticket
clerk upstairs... yes, all stations are manned with a Metro employee
mostly sitting in an open box near the entrance gates to help people
with ticket machines and other problems, although security staff
seems to be moving between stations). But in conjunction with a
necessary retrofitting of lifts, a second exit should really be taken
into consideration where structurally feasible.
All the stations built
after 1995 usually have wide platforms and wide staircases plus up
and down escalators in addition to lifts, and as the huge staircase
is mostly located in the middle of the station, offset from the
platform itself, this kind of claustrophobic impression is never
given.
Typical offset set of stairs and escalators in most of the newer stations, leaving a wide platform throughout
In Madrid, side platforms really dominate, although generally
it is much cheaper to maintain stations with island platforms, fewer
lifts, fewer escalators. The older stations of the Paris type have
side platforms, I think, because this is what they learned in Paris,
and it keeps the tracks straight. Modern metros often have island
platforms because the running tunnels are excavated with TBMs as
single-track tubes, resulting in a natural island platform. But in
Madrid, the Metro company insisted on double-track tubes for their
own good reasons (for example in case of a train failure, passengers
can be evacuated easily by a parallel train), and this preference
also resulted in natural side platforms, otherwise the station box
would have to be about twice the length.
Many stations have some kind of mural, like Ronda de la Comunicación on L10
The only section built with
single-track tubes was between Mar de Cristal and Aeropuerto on L8,
thus resulting in an island platform at Campo de las Naciones. While
at Príncipe Pío full cross-platform interchange is provided between
L6 and L10 (L10 on the outside with single-track approach tubes),
Casa de Campo station also has an interesting layout. In fact, L5
theoretically uses the two tracks in the middle, and L10 the outer
two, but as L5 terminates here, one track was covered, so people can
change across the platform in all directions. Like at many other
termini, the train actually remains in the station, mostly using the
theoretical departure platform, and except during off-peak times,
there is a flying change of drivers, i.e., while the arriving driver
gets off, a new driver gets on at the other end and so the train
leaves the station shortly after having arrived. The arriving driver
now has enough time to walk to the other end of the platform to pick
up the next arriving train. But unlike in New York, where the trains
also mostly turn around in the stations, Madrid does have reversing
sidings beyond the stations at all termini, if I recall correctly,
except line R, L2 Cuatro Caminos and L4 Argüelles.
3-platform layout on some L6 stations, although with rather narrow island and side platforms
The circular L6 is
certainly one of the strong lines in Madrid and despite its
deep-lying stations very busy, and often overcrowded. Some stations
features a 3-platform layout, but the initial idea of alighting on
the central island platform and boarding from the side platforms is
generally ignored, just the escalators use this rule, so even the
island platform, which is a bit too narrow anyway, does get very
crowded. What I don't like on L6 is the way the direction is signed
as 'Andén 1' and 'Andén 2', as I never remember which is which,
even the Inner/Outer Circle in Glasgow makes more sense to me. I
would prefer, at least as some additional information to have major
points listed, which could be Príncipe Pío, Cuatro Caminos, Nuevos
Ministerios, Av. de América, Pacífico, Pl. Elíptica. Any sign
could say 'Andén 1 > Príncipe Pío & Cuatro Caminos, for
example, although I also like clockwise and anticlockwise, but that
would be too clumsy in Spanish. But don't get me wrong, there are
plenty of panels showing the entire circle and which 'andén' you
should get for which station, but certainly not on all signs in these
long corridors.
I do not really like the
way the outer sections of L7, L9 and L10 are shown on maps.
Operationally they are completely different and separate lines, so I
think they deserve their own line numbers. The northern part of L10,
also known as MetroNorte, could already be called L14 (in fact, early
signs at station entrances already had a [14] sign), the outer L7
would could be L17 and the TFM section of L9 possibly L19. This way
it would be clear from the start that people need to change trains.
Although the necessity of a change of trains is depicted on the maps,
still I observed passengers wondering when they got to the transfer
point.
Confusing station names: Sierra de Guadalupe for the Metro, and Vallecas for Cercanías, although it is a single station complex
Another thing I need to
criticise is the naming of interchange stations serving the Metro and
Cercanías. While on MetroSur they found a satisfactory solution by
naming all interchanges 'xxx Central' (e.g. Getafe Central) and Atocha Renfe has been fine for a long time, there
are some where the names are misleading. On L9 there is a station
called Vicálvaro, but two stations down the line, right under the
Cercanías station called Vicálvaro is Metro station Puerta de
Arganda. Similarly, Vallecas station for Cercanías corresponds with
Sierra de Guadalupe Metro station, while Villa de Vallecas is the
following station. Luckily in Coslada they have used the MetroSur
pattern and called the Metro station Coslada Central. I wonder which
name ADIF/Renfe will choose for the Cercanías station under
construction right next to the new Paco de Lucía terminus on L9.
Generally signage is
pretty good, I also like the dominant blue with the line colour
ribbon. And also the blue and white livery of the trains. This colour
scheme fits even the old 2000 and 5000 trains much better than what
they originally had, which often is not the case when a new livery is
introduced. Sometimes, when you arrive at a platform, there is no
confirmation that you have arrived at the correct platform, if the
electronic display is just showing something else. So, on the line
ribbon, where it says 'Andén 1' or 'Andén 2' it should also
indicate the final destination for trains on this platform - all
trains go to the end of the line at all times (except for the usual
start and end of service trains to and form the depot). Although the
countdown in minutes for the next train is mostly quite o.k., the
message that the next train is about to enter the station is
pathetic. In Barcelona and Sevilla, there would just be a message
saying "ENTRA", which even tourists can understand without
knowing Spanish. In Madrid, however, they take the long way with a
small, three-line message saying something like "El próximo
tren efectuará su entrada en la estación"! It's good that the
following train is normally also shown, so if one arrives
over-crowded you can calculate whether it is worth to wait for the
next, which might be backing up behind. But apparently the system
only works from the moment the train starts from the first station,
so on L4, for example, at San Bernardo you will not know when the
next train for Pinar de Chamartín arrives until 1 minute before it
does as it starts from the previous station. Especially when longer
headways are operated, the signs should display the scheduled time
for the next train.
The rolling stock is quite
new and diverse. Like in Berlin, the small-profile trains on L1-L5
are a bit too narrow, especially as these are the busier lines. The
older 2000 trains which don't allow you to walk from one car to
another are all concentrated on L1 and L5, the latter has all the
'Burbujas', the bubble trains with that round glass front. L2, L3 and
L4 plus R are exclusively served by the walk-through class 3000, so
of these there are 4-car sets as well as 6-car sets. On the the
large-profile network (L6-L12) there are also several types of
trains, with the Ansaldo class 7000/9000 on L9 (mixed with old 5000s)
and L7 and especially on L10. Although I don't like their streamlined
front (I think metro trains can have more of a box shape...), what is
especially ugly is the fact that the mostly run with the couplers
uncovered, although the coupler is really only needed for special
manoeuvres.
Many of the Ansaldo trains always run with open couplers which makes them quite ugly!
The outer L7 and L10 are served with 3-car trains of this
type. Although the seats don't match my back and the blue both inside
and outside is slightly different from the Metro's colour, they offer
quite a nice ride. Often, however I observed that when leaving a
station they need like two attempts so as if the ATO doesn't get the
train in motion at the first try. The older 5000s with married pairs,
but no walk-through option, remain on L6 and mostly on L9. L6 is now
primarily served by the newest class 8000 built by CAF, whereas older
and shorter versions delivered by Alstom are in service on L8, L11
and L12. These could be extended to 6 cars if necessary. Although the
cars are generally assigned to a certain line, inside they display
stickers with a line panel for several different lines which may be a
bit confusing. I guess the line they actually travel on should be
enough and if they are switched to another line it won't be that
expensive to change those stickers. Luckily a proper global-style
network diagram has returned after several years of this horrible
square-looking map designed by some friends of ex-presidenta
Esperanza Aguirre!
Talking about maps, this
Metro network diagram map is easily available to grab at most
stations, but all other maps published by the Consorcio de
Transportes, like that including Cercanías lines or the huge bus map
for Madrid or for the entire region, these seem to be available only
at the headoffice of the Consorcio, not even their information centre
at Moncloa had some. The tourist office, however, still hands out a
version dating from Dec. 2013! So, the Consorcio could really be more
active in this field and establish more information points also in
the central area, as most of these huge bus hubs are in areas further
out.
Wider platform on underground section of ML1
In the suburbs, Madrid
also has four tram or light rail lines. Three of them are called
"Metro Ligero", and luckily, they stopped building more of
them. Normally, the idea of having feeder lines with less capacity on
some outer sections is not bad, but these lines around Madrid are
really badly designed. At first sight, they appear to be proper light
rail lines, but later you have to discover that they are old-style
tramways with excessively tight curves which requires too many
stretches where the trams crawl. And what's especially annoying is
the fact that these curves are found in places where even non-experts
would think, why the hell didn't they lay a straight track here or
create a gentle curve? There are several underground stretches, but
instead of what should be expected from a light rail system, the
tunnels were not built to metro standards with wide curves, they
resemble old-fashioned underground tram routes, like those found in
Boston, Philadelphia or Vienna. Another technical issue is the fact
that, if I recall correctly, the entire system is built with grooved
rails embedded in concrete. I would consider grooved rail on
interurban routes completely unnecessary, as Vignol track always
provides a much more comfortable ride! And having the track embedded
in concrete makes it difficult and expensive to adjust badly-laid
track! The weirdest track configuration can actually be found at the
depot entrance which reminded me a lot of the pathetic depot access
in Edinburgh.
Narrow platform at Somosaguas Sur on ML2
While ML1 in the north is
not too bad as a feeder line, as it connects to the Metro system at
both ends and is pretty short anyway, the western lines ML2 and ML3
are quite long, but their feeder function is rather limited as they
travel too slow and too far, and connections can only be made at
Colonia Jardín to L10, which during peak hours is pretty busy
anyway, and at Aravaca for Cercanías. Especially for passengers
starting their journeys at Boadilla, a bus is much faster as it goes
nonstop to Moncloa. Interestingly, the two underground stations on
ML2 have no ticket gates, but those on ML1 have them, actually down
on the platform.
Colonia Jardín, starting point for ML3 (on the left) and ML3 on the right - each line becomes double-track just outside the tunnel station
While ML1 is within fare zone A, the western lines
are mostly in zone B, just Colonia Jardín is in zone A, and to
change from ML2 to ML3, you have to pay an additional fare! Even if
you have a day pass or monthly pass, you are supposed to validate
inside the trams. I guess this is just to get proper passenger
numbers, but as for the older magnetic cards, I think they cannot
store your validation, and ticket inspectors actually on look at what
is stamped on your ticket. To get on the tram at Colonia Jardín,
you need to validate at the gates anyway.
Tram/Cercanías interchange at Parla Centro - here the trams open their doors on both sides!
The fourth tram line in
the region is the Tranvía de Parla, a suburb some 20 km south of
Madrid. There is a Cercanías C-4 train going there about every 10
minutes. This tramway is more of a 'normal', less pretentious system
doing the job it was designed for, which is distributing passengers
arriving from Madrid on a circular route via the town centre and the
new residential areas in the east. Apparently, more houses were
planned, so it runs through some empty parts, too. And unfortunately,
an additional station on C-4 has not happened, this would have
provided a much faster connection for those residents in Parla Este.
What I found a bit irritating was the long break at Estrella Polar or
Venus to keep the timetable. As the line is not very long, and it is
entirely on its own right-of-way and thus likely to accumulate big
delays caused by other traffic, I think it should be enough to pause
at the railway station and then do the loop without any breaks, as
these breaks are very inconvenient for passengers getting on at the
stops before the break point or getting off just after them. What is
also a bit weird for me is that the stops on the eastern segment,
where the line uses parallel streets for each direction, carry
'Norte' and 'Sur' to distinguish them, when my sense of orientation
would clearly suggest 'Este' and 'Oeste'!
LINKS
Metro de Madrid (incl.
ML1)
Metro Ligero del Oeste
(ML2 & ML3)
Madrid Metro etc. at
UrbanRail.Net (with more links)
