News
Line 11 extension progresses: 200 metres drilled and works 50% complete in Madrid
The extension of Madrid Metro Line 11 is progressing well and beginning to affect the city’s future mobility. The Mayrit tunnel-boring machine has already drilled 200 metres between the future Comillas station and Conde de Casal, on a key section for improving connections between southern and eastern Madrid.
Works are progressing without pause, 24 hours a day, with teams working in shifts to speed up the project. The pace of excavation, which can reach between 400 and 500 metres a month, multiplies the speed of traditional systems and makes it possible to advance without interrupting the city’s rhythm at surface level.
The new section between Plaza Elíptica and Conde de Casal will be 6.6 kilometres long and have five stations. Two will be completely new —Comillas and Madrid Río— while Atocha, Palos de la Frontera and Conde de Casal will operate as connection hubs with other lines and services.
According to forecasts, the project is already more than 50% complete and could be finished in 2027. In the coming weeks, the tunnel-boring machine will continue towards Madrid Río, where a technical inspection will be carried out before the route continues.
Although the progress is invisible to many, its effects will be direct. The extension of Line 11 will reduce journey times and avoid changes in neighbourhoods such as Carabanchel, Arganzuela and Retiro, changing how thousands of people travel each day.
Line 11 is thus becoming one of Madrid’s major mobility projects. Its development responds to a clear need: to connect areas that have traditionally been less well linked and adapt the transport network to a city that continues to grow and change its pace.