{"id":4036,"date":"2020-04-09T20:12:22","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T18:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revistaitransporte.com\/?p=4036"},"modified":"2020-04-15T14:51:29","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T12:51:29","slug":"rejuvenating-the-main-artery-of-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revistaitransporte.com\/rejuvenating-the-main-artery-of-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejuvenating the main artery of Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"
The development of modern Madrid is closely linked to that of its railway infrastructure. The increase in population forced the city to expand northwards at the beginning of the 20th century, and the construction of new stations, lines and railway connections were planned and implemented at the same time. Today, the capital’s main urban axis runs between the two major stations, Chamart\u00edn in the north and Atocha in the south, connected on the surface by the Prado, Recoletos and Castellana promenades and underground by three tunnels: two for commuter trains and one for high-speed trains, which has not yet opened.<\/p>\n
Of the three tunnels, Recoletos was the first to be opened, in 1967, at the same time that the city was growing along the new urban corridor. With the opening of the subway, which had two stops \u2013Recoletos and Nuevos Ministerios\u2013 development began on what starting the 80s would be Madrid’s commuter rail network, the largest in the country, which today carries more than 900,000 passengers every day.<\/p>\n
The Recoletos tunnel is still the busiest in the country today: 470 trains and 200,000 passengers pass through it each work day<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Recoletos is still the busiest railway tunnel in the country today: 470 trains and 200,000 passengers pass through it every work day, for a total of almost 3,300 journeys each week. 98% of this traffic corresponds to the Madrid commuter rail lines C-1, C-2, C-7, C-8 and C-10 \u2013the rest runs through the Sol tunnel\u2013 along with some twenty medium- and long-distance trains per day.<\/p>\n
Although improvement works were carried out in 2008, 2009 and 2012, the intensive use of this infrastructure after more than half a century in service made it necessary to undertake a more thorough renovation of the underground system. On behalf of Adif, Ineco provided the project and management of the works, as well as technical assistance, which required the closure of the tunnel between June and November 2019; on 17 November, the 7.3 kilometres tunnel was reopened to traffic.<\/p>\n