The new Bernabéu station is entering its final phase, and with it comes a long-awaited respite for one of the major bottlenecks on Paseo de la Castellana: Plaza de Lima will reopen to traffic this month after more than a year of fences, detours, and lane changes due to construction. This is the turning point of a major renovation that has literally required the plaza to be lifted up in order to build one of the largest and most modern stations in the entire Madrid Metro network beneath it.
The works began in February 2024 with the aim of transforming what the Community of Madrid described as a “narrow” station with cavernous corridors into a large central hall that allows passengers to see the intermediate levels and the platforms themselves at a glance. In practice, the station’s surface area will triple, from around 4,800 square meters to more than 12,400, with wider platforms and more direct routes between the street, the turnstiles, and the trains on line 10. This redesign seeks to better absorb the crowds on match days and concert days at Real Madrid’s new stadium, but also to improve the daily lives of the thousands of passengers who use Bernabéu as just another stop on their routine.
A pharaonic project for a Metro station
To achieve this, it has been necessary to open a huge “crater” on the surface, occupy a large part of Plaza de Lima and alter the central lanes of Castellana, with constant traffic diversions and changes to pedestrian crossings. The good news is that this phase is about to end: the deep foundations and the roof slab, which will allow the road to be replaced, are in their final stages, and the forecast is that, throughout this month, the square will recover its almost normal configuration, with much smoother traffic flow in the north-south direction. Construction work will continue to be visible, but the impact on drivers and buses will be less, because most of the work will move underground, to the “cavern” of the old station that is to be integrated into the new structure.
While traffic returns to normal above ground, the most delicate phase begins underground: the demolition of the old station cavern and its absorption into the new structure. This process will require Line 10 to be closed in the Bernabéu area for several months, dividing it into two sections (Hospital Infanta Sofía–Cuzco and Nuevos Ministerios–Puerta del Sur) and replacing the intermediate section with a special bus service. The schedule drawn up by the Community of Madrid and Metro places these closures between spring and fall, in a time window in which the most technically risky interventions within the station will be concentrated.
The reward at the end of this process will be a fully accessible station in line with the stadium’s new image. The project includes the installation of 12 panoramic elevators and 24 escalators, which will ensure barrier-free routes from the street to the platform, as well as a new lobby with turnstiles and state-of-the-art ticket machines. The décor will incorporate references to Real Madrid and its historical milestones, with the idea that the journey through the station itself will also serve as a prelude to the stadium on match days.