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Cercanías Madrid faces new closures and diversions from this weekend
Cercanías Madrid enters another phase of works this Saturday, which will require passengers to check their route before leaving home. The changes will affect both the line between Atocha y Chamartín and journeys towards the mountains, and will continue at various points on the network until early September.
The first change will arrive during the early hours of Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August. Between 00:30 and 07:30, work at Chamartín will reduce traffic on lines C-2, C-7, C-8a and C-8b through the Recoletos tunnel, between Atocha and Chamartín.
Recoletos will remain open, although only two trains will pass during that period before 07:30. For those who need to travel early at the weekend, the reduced frequency may mean longer waits and make it necessary to seek alternative connections.
The longer-lasting disruption will also begin this Saturday in the mountains. Until 5 September, the C-8b will have no rail service between Cercedilla and Los Molinos due to the renewal of overhead-line masts at Cercedilla station.
Renfe will provide buses between the two towns while the work lasts, with 38 services a day from Monday to Friday and 36 on Saturdays and Sundays. The closure particularly affects local residents and those taking advantage of the end of summer to travel to Cercedilla and other points in the Sierra de Guadarrama.
Changes will continue the following weekend. On 29 and 30 August and again on 5 and 6 September, the Sol tunnel between Atocha and Nuevos Ministerios will be closed. The C-3 and part of the C-4 will temporarily terminate at Atocha, while C-4 trains coming from the north will have Nuevos Ministerios as their terminus.
These interruptions are joined by the changes that already affect lines C-2, C-7, C-8a, C-8b and C-10 until 28 August due to works at Atocha. There are changes to routes and frequencies, as well as the closure of the C-10 platforms at Méndez Álvaro.
The timetable leaves the last weeks of August particularly eventful for Cercanías. Anyone travelling to the mountains, crossing the city centre or relying on Atocha and Chamartín will have to check their route before leaving: closures change according to the day and, over the next three weekends, the usual journey may not be the quickest.
UPD: Adif has completed the decisive phase of the Atocha Cercanías works on schedule, so the general changes that had affected lines C-2, C-7, C-8 and C-10 since the beginning of August have concluded. The restrictions do not disappear completely: the C-8b remains without trains between Cercedilla and Los Molinos until 5 September, with replacement buses, and the Sol tunnel remains closed to lines C-3 and C-4 this weekend, 29 and 30 August, and will close again on 5 and 6 September.