Transport in Madrid
In terms of longer-distance transport, Madrid is the central node of the system of
Local transport
744,000 of the jobs in the city are held by residents of other municipalities, while 242,000 residents in the capital have jobs outside. Thus passenger flows are predominantly into and out of the city centre, although further decentralisation of economic activity to the outskirts is altering this pattern.[1]: 66
From the point of view of sustainable transport, Madrid has performed well from the compactness of the city centre and middle-to-high-density peripheral nuclei, favouring public transport and pedestrian movement. The weak points appear in the "new peripheries", with low-density residential developments and dispersal of journey destinations, leading to higher car use.[1]: 64
Road
The outward expansion of Madrid after 1960 was supported by a growing network of radial roads. Above all these enabled commuter movements to the city centre. It also became necessary to create the first orbital : 62–63
The most recent big scheme was improvement of the M30. This road is the inner ring motorway of Madrid. Significant portions of M30 run underground and its urban motorway tunnels have sections of more than 6 km (3.73 mi) in length and 3 to 6 lanes in each direction. Between the south entry of the Avenida de Portugal tunnel and the north exit of the M-30 south by-pass there are close to 10 km (6.21 mi) of continuous tunnels.
The most important radial autovías of Madrid are:
Signal | Denomination | Itinerary |
---|---|---|
A-1 | Autovía del Norte |
Madrid – Aranda de Duero – Burgos – Miranda de Ebro – Vitoria – San Sebastián |
A-2 | Autovía del Nordeste |
Madrid – |
A-3 | Autovía del Este |
Madrid – Valencia
|
A-4 | Autovía del Sur |
Madrid – |
A-5 | Autovía del Suroeste |
Madrid – Talavera de la Reina – Navalmoral de la Mata – Mérida – Badajoz – Portugal |
A-6 | Autovía del Noroeste | Madrid – Medina del Campo – Benavente – Astorga – Ponferrada – Lugo – A Coruña |
A-42 | Autovía de Toledo |
Madrid – Illescas – Toledo |
More recently, four new radial
The investment in roads has resulted in a high-capacity metropolitan road network, facilitating communications between the outer municipalities, and resilient against closures due to works or accidents. However, the new orbital roads have favoured the dispersion and fragmentation of residential areas and areas of economic activity, resulting in an array of urban developments separate from each other, and very dependent on private vehicles.[1]: 63
In 2018, Madrilenian roads were the safest in all of Spain with only 18 traffic fatalities per million inhabitants.[2]
Public transport
Madrid has built up a public transport system, the fruit of long-term policies supporting the extension of the metro and Cercanías networks, the improvement of bus networks, the construction of 28 transport interchanges, and subsidies to public transport.
A mobility survey in 2004 counted 14.5M journeys per day in the
Buses
This railway network is supported by an ever-expanding network of city buses. The overall length of the bus network of Madrid's Municipal Transport Corporation (Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid, or EMT Madrid) at the end of 2013 stood at 3,690 km (2,293 mi), marking a 31% increase over the last eight years. These routes are serviced by a growing fleet of over 3,000 vehicles. The EMT network is very dense, with 217 routes and over 10,000 stops, and almost all the population of the municipality lives within 300m of a bus stop.[1]: 64 The buses in Madrid are the only public transport system available around the clock as the metro network closes down between 2.00 and 6.00 am. The night buses, also known as "Buhos" (Owls), operate from 11.45pm to 6.00am.[4] The heavy traffic in Madrid can in some cases make the city buses a fairly slow form of transportation but the city of Madrid has more than 90 km of special bus and taxi lines to help solve this issue.[5] Buses serving the outer areas are run by 33 private companies, coordinated by the Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid. This network is fundamentally radial.[1]: 64
Metro
Serving a population of some five million, the Madrid Metro (Metro de Madrid) is one of the most extensive and fastest-growing metro networks in the world.[6] With the addition of a loop serving suburbs to Madrid's south-west called Metrosur or Line 12, it is now the second longest metro system in Western Europe after London's Underground. After numerous extension projects in the early 2000s, it currently consists of 293 kilometres (182 mi) of mostly underground railway tracks and a total of 302 stations.
The system is the twelfth longest metro in the world,[7] though Madrid is approximately only the fiftieth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Its fast growth in the last 20 years has put it among the fastest growing networks in the world, on par with the Shanghai Metro and the Beijing Subway. Unlike normal Spanish road and rail traffic, Madrid Metro trains use left-hand running on almost all lines due to left-hand traffic being the norm in Madrid until 1924.
The metro network consists of 302 stations. It has 12 lines, one branch line and three Metro Ligero (light metro) tram lines. The network consists of diametrical lines, interconnected by one circular line (Line 6). It gives good coverage to much of the municipality – about 50% of the population live within 600m of a metro station.[1]: 64
Local rail
Spain's railway system, the Red Nacional de Ferrocarriles Españoles (Renfe) operates the vast majority of Spain's railways. Cercanías Madrid is the commuter rail service that serves Madrid and its metropolitan area. It is operated by Cercanías, the commuter rail division of Renfe. The total length spans 382 kilometres (237.4 miles). Main rail terminals are Atocha in the south and Chamartín in the north. The Cercanías network consists of 9 lines and 98 stations.[1]: 64
Other modes
Madrid has a single cable car, the Teleférico de Madrid, which links the Parque del Oeste with the Casa de Campo.[8]
The BiciMAD bike-sharing scheme was introduced in 2014.
Madrid Public Transportation Statistics
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Madrid, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 62 min. 13% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 11 min, while 13% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 9.5 km, while 25% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.[9]
Long-distance transport
Although distant from other great centres of the EU, modern transport links are lessening this disadvantage. There has been large investment in transport infrastructure focussing on Madrid, including radial autovías, high-speed rail, and Madrid-Barajas airport.[1]: 70
Road
As noted above, Madrid is the focal point of the high-capacity autovía network, linking it with most parts of the country as well as France and Portugal. The road network is now regarded as largely complete, with attention turning to maintenance and road safety.[1]: 72–73
High-speed rail
Madrid ranks alongside
Rail freight
The
Air
Madrid–Barajas Airport (Aeropuerto de Madrid-Barajas) is Spain's busiest airport, and is the main
The airport is located within the city limits of Madrid, at 9 km (5.6 mi) from the city's financial district and 13 km (8.1 mi) northeast of the Puerta del Sol, Madrid's historic centre. It has good connections with the city centre by autovía, Cercanías and Metro. The airport name derives from the adjacent district of
The closed
Bus
Aside from the local and regional bus commuting services, Madrid is also a node for long-distance bus connections to plenty of national destinations. The Estación Sur de Autobuses in Méndez Álvaro, the busiest bus station in the country,[13] also features international bus connections to cities in Morocco as well as to diverse European destinations.[13]
Logistical platform
The region concentrates 54% by value of the national transport of goods & logistical operations, employing 122,000. Favoured by central position, radiality of road & rail routes, importance of the airport, As well as being a large centre of production and consumption, it is a great distribution centre. The municipality concentrates two-thirds of the region's employment in the sector, but this is becoming more decentralised. A regional plan seeks to create nine new logistical centres outside the city, in order to decongest the central areas and rationalise distribution chains.[1]: 79–80
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Estructura Economica de le Ciudad de Madrid, Ayuntamiento de Madrid (Madrid City Council), August 2013
- ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
- ^ a b Barómetro de Economía de la Ciudad de Madrid, No. 41 Archived 2015-01-28 at the Wayback Machine, Ayuntamiento de Madrid (Madrid City Council), October 2014
- ^ "Public Transportation in Madrid". .madrid-university.es.
- ^ "Bus lines in Madrid". ecomovilidad.net.
- ^ "Madrid Metro". Robert Schwandl. 17 August 2006.
- ^ "List of metro systems", Wikipedia, 2019-09-29, retrieved 2019-09-29
- ^ "TPH 2S Rosales - Casa de Campo". remontees-mecaniques.net (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ "Madrid Public Transportation Statistics". Global Public Transit Index by Moovit. Retrieved June 19, 2017. Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- ^ "China flags train to Madrid to revive Silk Route", Atul Aneja, The Hindu, 23 November 2014
- ^ "The Silk Railway: freight train from China pulls up in Madrid", Guardian, 10 December 2014
- ^ Spain AENA Airport Statistics
- ^ a b García Gallo, Bruno (11 October 2013). "La estación Sur se moderniza". El País.