Page 111 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

South Madrid and High Speed. An example of symbiosis

In the period 1940‐1970 Madrid tripled
its population. Since then, figures
remained stable but the metropolitan
area increased significantly, particularly
in the south‐western metropolitan area
supplied with commuter lines acceding
to Atocha. Transport demand congested
the access roads and commuter turnout
soared. Economical recovery on the mid
80’s increased the trend. The situation
reached moments of severe tension: the
railway network was close to collapse.
Riots provoked by angry users took place
in April 1986 in Atocha Station.

6.5 The birth of new com‐
muter networks: Cercanías
Table 3: Madrid Metro Area population growth 1897‐2009.
As a reply to urban transportation Source: Wikipedia and Juan Ayrault
challenges, the first socialist government in the democracy implemented several measures
in order to improve the commuter railway network in major Spanish urban areas. In respect
to Madrid metro area, all the services were studied as a whole and rescheduled with periodic
timetables. New stretches were projected to connect lines that were not integrated in the
network. Atocha was decided to be the linking point of all the lines, due to the fact that most
of the lines already started there or were accessible through the tunnel to Chamartín.

Figure 22: Commuter (Cercanías) Figure 23: Cercanias network in 2007.
network in 1989 + projected extensions. Source: Adif and Juan Ayrault files.

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 109