Madrid Metro
Metro · Madrid · Metro de Madrid / CRTM
13 lines · 244 stations · 39 interchanges
Every line drawn through its stations. Tap a line in the legend to hide or show it.
Lines
Lines
- L1PINAR DE CHAMARTIN ↔ VALDECARROS33
- L10HOSPITAL INFANTA SOFIA ↔ PUERTA DEL SUR31
- L11Intercambiador de Plaza Elíptica ↔ LA FORTUNA7
- L12Circular28
- L2LAS ROSAS ↔ CUATRO CAMINOS20
- L3EL CASAR ↔ MONCLOA19
- L4ARGÜELLES ↔ PINAR DE CHAMARTIN23
- L5ALAMEDA DE OSUNA ↔ CASA DE CAMPO32
- L6Circular28
- L7HOSPITAL DEL HENARES ↔ PITIS31
- L8Nuevos Ministerios ↔ Aeropuerto T48
- L9PACO DE LUCIA ↔ ARGANDA DEL REY29
Quick facts
- Operator
- Metro de Madrid runs the underground, coordinated inside the wider CRTM public-transport system.
- Payment
- As of June 2026, Madrid Metro supports direct bank-card payment at turnstiles for single metro rides.
- For 10-journey tickets, tourist tickets, or broader Madrid-region travel, the Multi card still matters.
- ContactlessMulti card
- Airport
- Line 8 links the airport with Nuevos Ministerios, but taxis are often the easy trade with luggage.
- Madrid's flat airport taxi fare makes the decision less painful than in many cities.
- Airport linkLine 8
- Network feel
- Clean, bright, legible, and easy to trust late into a long city day.
- This is one of those systems where the good design is mostly that you stop thinking about it.
- Metro
- Built form
- The historic core is older, but the modern network expanded heavily in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
- That is why so much of it feels newer and more spacious than the central city might make you expect.
- Modern metro
Mike’s notes
Madrid is one of the easiest big-city metro systems to trust as a visitor. It is clean, well lit, and usually feels safe. The compliment is simple: it does the job without turning the day into a transit puzzle.
The payment answer changed recently. Madrid now has direct contactless bank-card payment at Metro turnstiles for single rides, so the old "you must buy the plastic card first" advice is no longer always true. I would still use the Multi card if I were buying 10-journey tickets, tourist passes, or doing more than simple single rides.
Network character
The system feels more modern than many European metros because so much of the network was expanded or rebuilt in recent decades. Stations are usually clear, bright, and easy to navigate. That matters in Madrid because the good neighborhoods sit close enough that you often choose between walking and one or two metro stops.
For me, the metro is mostly a practical connector: airport, Atocha, Chamartín, museums, Gran Vía, La Latina, and the Princesa side. Madrid rewards walking once you are in the right part of town, so I use the metro to set up the day rather than to avoid the city.
Short history
1919
Sol to Cuatro Caminos
Madrid opens its first metro section, eight stations and about four kilometres between Sol and Cuatro Caminos.
1990s-2000s
Big expansion era
Madrid builds out the modern network at a scale that still shapes how easy the city feels to move through today.
2026
Bank-card turnstiles
Direct payment by bank card arrives at Metro turnstiles, making a one-off ride much easier for visitors.