Madrid Atocha railway station

Madrid Atocha (Spanish: Estación de Madrid Atocha, also named Madrid Puerta de Atocha) is the largest railway station in Madrid. It is the primary station serving commuter trains (Cercanías), regional trains from the south and southeast, intercity trains from Navarre, Cádiz and Huelva (Andalusia) and La Rioja, and the AVE high speed trains from Girona, Tarragona and Barcelona (Catalonia), Huesca and Zaragoza (Aragon), Sevilla, Córdoba and Málaga (Andalusia), Valencia, Castellón and Alicante (Levante Region). These train services are run by the Spanish national rail company, Renfe. As of 2019, this station has daily services to Marseille in France.

Madrid Atocha
Location	Arganzuela, Madrid Spain
Coordinates	40.406528°N 3.689373°W
Owned by	Adif
Operated by	Renfe
Line(s)	From Puerta de Atocha: Madrid–Seville (high-speed) (PK 0.0) Madrid–Levante (high-speed) (PK 0.0) Madrid–Barcelona–Figueres (high-speed) (PK 0.0) Madrid–Málaga (high-speed) (PK 0.0) Madrid–Granada (high-speed) (PK 0.0) From Atocha–Cercanias: Madrid–Almería Madrid–Badajoz Madrid–Barcelona Madrid–Jaén Madrid–Móstoles-El Soto Madrid–Valencia Madrid–Valencia de Alcántara (Portuguese border)
Tracks	24
Other information
Fare zone	A
History
Opened	9 February 1851
Passengers
2017	110 million[1]
Rank	1
Services
Preceding station   Madrid Metro   Following station Estación del Arte toward Pinar de Chamartín Line 1 Menéndez Pelayo toward Valdecarros
Location
Madrid Atocha Location within Madrid

Overview

The station is in the Atocha neighborhood of the district of Arganzuela. The original façade faces Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, a site at which a variety of streets converge, including the Calle de Atocha, Paseo del Prado, Paseo de la Infanta Isabel, Avenida de la Ciudad de Barcelona, Calle de Méndez Álvaro, Paseo de las Delicias, Paseo de Santa María de la Cabeza, and Ronda de Atocha.

Atocha station is a railway complex, formed by the Madrid Atocha Cercanías and Madrid Puerta de Atocha stations of the Spanish national railways and a station of the Madrid underground called Atocha-Renfe. Renfe is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains since 1941.

History

Exterior of old Atocha station

Interior plaza in old Atocha station

At this site, Madrid's first railway station was inaugurated on 9 February 1851 under the name Estación de Mediodía (Atocha-Mediodía is now the name of an area of the Arganzuela district, and means south in old Spanish).

After the building was largely destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt by the MZA railway company and reopened in 1892. The architect for the replacement, in a wrought iron renewal style was Alberto de Palacio Elissagne, who collaborated with Gustave Eiffel. Engineer Henry Saint James also took part in the project.[2] The name Atocha has become attached to the station because of the nearby basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Atocha. The train platforms were partly covered by a roof in the form of inverted hull with a height of approximately 27 meters and length of 157 meters. The steel and glass roof spreads between two brick flanking buildings.

This complex of railway tracks expanded through the years. In 1985, a project of complete remodeling began, based on designs by Rafael Moneo. In 1992, the original building was taken out of service as a terminal, and converted into a concourse with shops, cafés, and a nightclub. Like the Orsay Museum in Paris, the concourse has been given a new function, that being in the case of Atocha a stunning 4,000 m² (43,056 sq ft) covered tropical garden.[3]

A modern terminal was also designed by Moneo, and built in adjacent land to serve both the new High Speed trains, regional and local commuter lines. The main lines end in the new terminal; regional and commuter train platforms are located underground, at the ingress to a rail tunnel extending northward under the Paseo de la Castellana. The station is served by two Madrid Metro stations, Estación del Arte (located nearby Museo Reina Sofía) and the Atocha Renfe metro station. The latter was added when the new terminal building was constructed and is directly linked to the railway station, providing access to Line 1. A connection to Line 11 will be constructed in the first half of the 2020s.[4]

2004 Madrid train bombings

On 11 March 2004, packed arriving commuter trains were bombed in a series of coordinated attacks, killing 191 people and wounding 1,800. The official investigation by the Spanish Judiciary determined the attacks were directed by a terrorist cell.

Memorials to the 2004 attack

Interior of the Atocha station memorial

On 10 June 2004, a somber and minimalist Atocha station memorial was dedicated to the victims of the attack. The monument includes a virtual shrine. Visitors to the attacked stations can leave a hand silhouette and a message through special-purpose consoles. A second monument to this event, known as 11-M in Spain, is the Bosque del Recuerdo (Forest of Remembrance) in the Parque del Buen Retiro near Atocha. This monument is made up of 192 olive and cypress trees, one for each person who died on that day, with a tree also planted in remembrance of the police officer who died on 3 April 2004, along with seven of the perpetrators whose capture was underway. Initially inaugurated as the Bosque de los Ausentes (Forest of the Departed)[5] the site was renamed on the first anniversary of the devastating attack. The forest is surrounded by a stream, with water as a symbol of life.

Services

Trains from Puerta de Atocha

Trains from Atocha–Cercanías

Preceding station		Renfe Operadora		Following station
Terminus		Altaria		Alcázar de San Juan toward Murcia del Carmen
		Altaria		Alcázar de San Juan toward Cartagena
Madrid Chamartín Terminus		Talgo		Alcázar de San Juan toward Almería
Madrid-Nuevos Ministerios toward Madrid Chamartín		Intercity		Alcázar de San Juan toward Valencia Nord
Madrid Chamartín Terminus		Intercity		Aranjuez toward Águilas
		Intercity		Leganés toward Badajoz
Terminus		Intercity		Leganés toward Zafra
		Intercity		Leganés toward Huelva
Terminus		Media Distancia 48		Villaverde Bajo toward Valencia Nord
Terminus		Media Distancia 51		Madrid Chamartín toward Ávila
Terminus		Media Distancia 52		Leganés toward Badajoz
Terminus		Media Distancia 53		Recoletos toward Segovia
Madrid Chamartín Terminus		Media Distancia 57		Aranjuez toward Albacete-Los Llanos
Madrid Chamartín Terminus		Media Distancia 58		Aranjuez toward Jaén
Terminus		Media Distancia 60		Aranjuez toward Badajoz

Suburban trains

Preceding station		Cercanías Madrid		Following station
Recoletos toward Aeropuerto T4		C-1		Méndez Álvaro toward Príncipe Pío
Recoletos toward Chamartín		C-2		Asamblea de Madrid-Entrevías toward Guadalajara
Sol toward Chamartín		C-3		Villaverde Bajo toward Aranjuez
Sol toward Santa María de la Alameda		C-3a
Sol toward Alcobendas-San Sebastián de los Reyes or Colmenar Viejo		C-4		Villaverde Bajo toward Parla
Embajadores toward Móstoles-El Soto		C-5		Méndez Álvaro toward Humanes
Recoletos toward Príncipe Pío		C-7		Asamblea de Madrid-Entrevías toward Alcalá de Henares
Recoletos toward Cercedilla		C-8		Asamblea de Madrid-Entrevías toward Guadalajara
Recoletos toward Aeropuerto T4		C-10		Méndez Álvaro toward Villalba

See also

• 1977 Atocha massacre

References

1. "Cómo aparcar junto a la estación de Atocha de Madrid". Parkimeter. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
2. "Madrid's Official College of Architects website". 212.145.146.10. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
3. "Jardín tropical Estación de Atocha". Official tourism website (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 September 2019.
4. Medina, Miguel Ángel (20 July 2019). "La ampliación más necesaria del metro de Madrid llega tarde". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
5. "Madrid Train Bombs Memorials - Spain Features". 3 November 2007. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2019.

External links

• Atocha at Google Maps
• Madrid train services visitor guide (English)
• 11-M memorial website (in Spanish)
• Renfe.com