News
Line 11 will change journeys between the north and south of Madrid
Madrid is preparing one of the most significant metro extensions of the coming years. Line 11 will extend between Mar de Cristal and Valdebebas Norte with a 7.2-kilometre tunnel and four new stations, a project intended to better connect the north-east with the south-west without always having to pass through the centre.
The planned investment amounts to €880.6 million and seeks to turn Línea 11 into a major diagonal route in the network. For those who live, work or study in areas such as Valdebebas, IFEMA, Carabanchel, Arganzuela or the area around Atocha, the change may mean fewer interchanges and more direct journeys.
The new section will add the stations of IFEMA-Cárcavas, Ciudad de la Justicia, Hospital Enfermera Isabel Zendal and Valdebebas Norte. Each stop responds to a very specific point of activity: the exhibition venue, new residential developments, the future judicial complex and one of the Community’s major healthcare facilities.
The extension will also improve connections at Mar de Cristal, where lines 4, 8 and 11 will meet. Further on, the connection with Aeropuerto T4 will make it possible to link with Línea 8 and Cercanías, strengthening public-transport access to one of the busiest points in the whole region.
The timetable points to an upcoming tender, works from 2027 and entry into service around 2030. Meanwhile, work is already advancing on the southern section between Plaza Elíptica and Conde de Casal, with future stops such as Comillas and Madrid Río, as well as connections at Palos de la Frontera and Atocha.
The project’s great promise is to ease Línea 6, one of Metro’s most used and overcrowded lines, especially at peak times. If Línea 11 works as an alternative axis, many journeys between the north, the centre-south and the south-west could cease to depend on the circular line.
The impact will be especially visible in rapidly growing neighbourhoods and areas, such as Valdebebas, IFEMA and the surroundings of Ciudad de la Justicia. There, the metro will not only make it easier to arrive sooner: it may also better organise the mobility of thousands of workers, residents, patients, visitors and attendees at major events.
The extension of Línea 11 shows how Madrid is trying to adapt its network to a city that no longer moves only towards the centre. Each new station can change routines, bring neighbourhoods closer together and reduce dependence on cars in areas where housing, services and major facilities are growing faster than public transport.