As construction work on the Metro Line 11 expansion progresses, traffic restrictions associated with the construction work are being lifted. Traffic has been restored in the area around Atocha Station, specifically on Paseo de la Infanta Isabel toward the Carlos V roundabout and in the Mariano de Cavia tunnel in both directions.
Thanks to the reopening of Paseo de la Infanta Isabel, seven EMT bus routes have also resumed their regular stops and routes. The routes that have resumed their regular service are the 10, 14, 26, 32, C1, N9, and NC1, as reported by EMT Madrid.
Construction on Line 11 is progressing toward Palos de la Frontera
Meanwhile, the Mayrit tunnel boring machine continues to drill through the Madrid subsoil to complete the expansion work on Metro Line 11. Excavation began at the new Comillas station last March and reached the future Madrid Río station in June. It is now nearing Palos de la Frontera, one of the most delicate and demanding sections of the route.
In total, Mayrit has already excavated 2.5 kilometers beneath the capital’s surface. As it advances, the tunnel boring machine installs the prefabricated concrete rings that form the tunnel’s structural lining . The machinery has reached an excavation rate of over 30 meters per day. The process never stops and is monitored 24 hours a day. The goal is to reach the Conde de Casal station, which will eventually connect to the northeastern part of the capital.
The new route for Line 11
According to the regional government, the extension of the line will create a cross-city route through the city to Valdebebas, the Isabel Zendal Hospital, the future City of Justice, IFEMA, and Madrid-Barajas Airport. This new plan for Line 11 was presented by the Community of Madrid last July and represented a significant change from the previous project, which proposed that the line continue toward the Pilar neighborhood, Arturo Soria, and Chamartín.
Due both to the proposed route—which excludes, among others, the Las Águilas neighborhood—and to other protests by local residents, the construction work on Line 11 has not been without controversy. The objectives of the original plan were to relieve congestion on Line 6 and connect densely populated outlying neighborhoods, such as El Pilar, via a semicircular line running from the southwest and south to the east and north of the capital. The Community of Madrid, for its part, maintains that the new plan will improve mobility in the northeast and ease pressure on Metro Line 6.