Madrid Metro

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...