The service of Line 6 of Metro de Madrid will be suspended this bridge of La Almudena between the Arganzuela-Planetario and Ciudad Universitaria stations in order to continue testing the new automatic train driving systems (driverless), which is expected to begin operating on the "Circular" in 2027.
Specifically, there will be no train service on this section between 7 and 9 November, the days on which the Community of Madrid commemorates the festival of Our Lady of La Almudena. Despite the interruption, the Arganzuela-Planetario and Ciudad Universitaria stations will remain open to the public and will operate as provisional termini for the rest of the route.
During the interruption period, the Empresa Municipal de Transportes (EMT) will provide a free special bus service to link the Legazpi and Ciudad Universitaria stations and thus guarantee an alternative connection between both points.
This special service, called SE6, will have up to 35 buses to cover the affected section, with an estimated headway of between three and four minutes during the hours of highest demand.
In the direction of Ciudad Universitaria, the first departures will take place at 6.05 from Legazpi, Pacífico, Manuel Becerra and Cuatro Caminos. In the direction of Legazpi, the start of the service will be at the same time, with trips from Ciudad Universitaria, Cuatro Caminos, Manuel Becerra and Pacífico.
With regard to the last departures, on Saturdays they will be made at 2.03 from Legazpi and at 2.05 from Ciudad Universitaria, while on public holidays they will be made at 23.24 from Legazpi and at 23.29 from Ciudad Universitaria.
From Metro de Madrid, they have said that these works have been planned to coincide with a weekend and a public holiday in order to minimize as much as possible the inconvenience to the line’s regular users.
The cuts will return at the end of the month
The service cuts will be repeated, with the same operational characteristics, on 21 and 22 November. This temporary suspension is part of the safety testing schedule designed to validate in an appropriate way the behavior of the new systems.
It is an essential prior step in the technology modernization process of the Circular, as it will make it possible to check, in a controlled environment, the operation and integration of the different components that will make possible the automatic operation of the trains.
The tests will be carried out using the new automatic trains, which will begin running to check the performance of the safety systems and analyze the different operating conditions.
Progressively, the trials will be carried out at increasingly higher speeds until reaching the parameters typical of commercial service, with all systems fully integrated, with the objective of studying their response, validating the recorded data, and ensuring the correct operation of the system as a whole.
The complete renovation of Line 6 constitutes one of the company’s most relevant technological projects in the metropolitan area. It is an action that requires coordinating the station and signaling systems with the track infrastructure and rolling stock, so, before it goes into service, it is essential to complete an exhaustive program of tests and checks.
Once automation has been implemented, the transport capacity of this line can be increased from the current 400,000 daily passengers to 730,000, which will make it possible to absorb the expected increase in demand in one of the capital’s main mobility corridors.