Madrid Metro
| Madrid Metro | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | |||
| Native name | Metro de Madrid | ||
| Owner | Autonomous Government of the Community of Madrid | ||
| Locale | Madrid, Spain | ||
| Transit type | Rapid transit | ||
| Number of lines | 13 (heavy-rail) + 3 (Metro Ligero) | ||
| Number of stations | 276 | ||
| Daily ridership | 2.4 million | ||
| Annual ridership | 715.0 million (2024) | ||
| Website | Metro de Madrid | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 17 October 1919 | ||
| Operator(s) | Metro de Madrid | ||
| Number of vehicles | 2083 carriages | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 296.6 km (184.3 mi) (heavy-rail) + 27.8 km (17.3 mi) (Metro Ligero) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,445 mm (4 ft 8+7⁄8 in) (heavy-rail lines) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge (Metro Ligero) | ||
| Electrification | 600 V DC overhead lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 9) 750 V DC overhead lines (Metro Ligero) 1,500 V DC overhead lines (all other lines) | ||
| |||
The Madrid Metro (Spanish: Metro de Madrid) is a rapid transit system serving the metropolitan area of Madrid, the capital of Spain. First opened in 1919, the system has regularly undergone numerous extensions over the next century, bringing it to today's network which comprises thirteen "conventional" (heavy-rail) lines and three light-rail lines known as Metro Ligero. The network is largely managed by Metro de Madrid S.A., which is owned by the Government of the Community of Madrid.
As of September 2025, the conventional lines have a combined length of 296.6 kilometres (184.3 mi), making Madrid's Metro system the 20th longest rapid transit system in the world, the 6th longest in the world outside of China, and the 3rd longest in Europe behind only the Moscow Metro and the London Underground; the three light-rail lines add a further 27.8 kilometres (17.3 mi) to the total length of the network. The whole system transported a total of 715 million passengers in 2024 – in this metric Madrid's system stands as the 29th most-used in the world and the 5th most-used in Europe, behind Moscow, Paris, London and Istanbul.
Unlike Spanish road traffic and most railway lines in the country, which drive on the right, trains on the heavy-rail lines of the Madrid Metro have operated with left-hand running since the system's inception. The light-rail part of the network, on the other hand, runs on the right, as much of it operates at street level.
Within the Community of Madrid, the Madrid Metro is complemented by the Madrid Cercanías suburban rail services managed by the national rail operator Renfe, as well as a large network of urban bus lines operated by the city-owned EMT Madrid, and a collection of interurban bus lines that serve municipalities outside of the city's boundaries, managed by the Community of Madrid itself but operated by private companies on a concession basis. All of these public transportation networks have a unified fare system, which is managed by the Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid (CRTM), a public body run by a consortium of various local governments of the Community of Madrid.
Trains are in circulation every day between 06:00 and 01:30. There had been plans to extend the operating hours on Friday and Saturday nights – first to 02:30 from 2020, and then to 24-hour operation from 2023 – but the coronavirus pandemic halted these plans, and as of February 2026 the system still closes at 01:30 throughout the week. However, the Metro has been known to stay open for 24 hours on at least two special occasions in its history: in summer 2017 during World Pride and in January 2021 during the Madrid snowstorm.
As of September 2025, the Madrid Metro has 1,709 escalators and 571 lifts.