News – Metro Line 8 Closes For Maintainance Work

Metro Madrid Line 8 will be closing its eight stations on January 26 in order to carry out renovation of the tracks between Nuevos Ministerios and Barajas stations. The works, budgeted at €20 million, will have a completion time of 83 days and will finish on April 18. The work will begin when one of the most important dates on the IFEMA calendar, the Madrid International Tourism Fair (FITUR), has finished so as not to interfere with access to the fair by public transport.

To reduce the possible inconvenience that may be caused to metro users by the interruption in the service, an alternative EMT bus service will be provided with an operating range agreed upon by the Madrid City Council, while the main Cercanias rail line that goes to airport terminal T4 will also be reinforced.

The Metro track renovation plan will involve replacement of the current track infrastructure with the latest technology installed, which will offer better safety, availability, comfort, reduction of vibrations, and an increase in the efficiency in maintenance tasks, besides restoring the commercial speed of the trains. Station platforms will also be reinforced.

The work will be carried out in three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a view to speeding up their conclusion as much as possible and minimising their impact on users.

Line 8 has a length of 16.5 kilometres, which is distributed over eight stations and runs from the centre of Madrid – Nuevos Ministerios station, to Madrid Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport Terminal 4.

As of January 26, three alternative bus services will be provided by the EMT. The first of the alternative services, SE 2, will have 10 buses and will cover the route between Mar de Cristal and Aeropuerto T2—Barajas stations. Alternative service SE 3 will run between Colombia and Pinar del Rey stations. This service will be covered by 2 buses. SE 4, between Mar de Cristal and Aeropuerto T4 stations, will be provided with up to eight vehicles. The operating times of all special buses will be the same as the current Metro service, from 6 am in the morning until 1.30 am at night.

Additionally, Metro Madrid will be reinforcing the service on Line 4 to facilitate mobility, in addition to the alternative bus schedule. Madrid’s suburban rail (Cercanias) network will also be increasing their service on Line C1 so as to offer an alternative means of transport to metro users by endowing the service with greater flexibility.

Finally, an informative campaign will be conducted in the metro in order to make users aware of the discontinuation of service on the line as well as show the available transport alternatives. Likewise, AENA ground staff at the airport will give passengers specific information regarding alternative services which they can use depending on their final destination.

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