The Community of Madrid has tendered the works for the Gran Diagonal, a mega project worth €880 million that will extend Metro Line 11 to Valdebebas with four new stations and connections to lines 4, 8, and Cercanías.
The Community of Madrid has given the green light to the tender for the works to extend Metro Line 11, a project valued at €880 million that will extend the service to Valdebebas. The start of the works is scheduled for 2027, as announced by the regional government.
A route of 7.2 kilometres with four new stops
The extension will add 7.2 kilometres of track and four completely new stations. One of them will be located in Valdebebas Norte, serving one of the fastest-growing residential areas in the capital. Another will be built next to the future City of Justice, which will become an important centre for daily commutes.
Additionally, the project includes a station at IFEMA-Cárcavas, which will improve access to the Madrid exhibition centre and its business environment, and another next to the Hospital Enfermera Isabel Zendal, facilitating the connection of the healthcare complex with the rest of the Metro network.
Two major links to connect with the airport and the north
Two important links with other lines will complement this extension. At Mar de Cristal, Line 11 will connect with lines 4 and 8, while the future Airport T4 station will allow connections with both Line 8 and the Cercanías network, improving access to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport.
According to the forecasts of the regional government, this extension will provide direct service to more than 130,000 residents of Valdebebas and nearby neighbourhoods, as well as facilitating the journeys of the millions of people who visit IFEMA, the airport, or the future City of Justice each year.
From a short line to a transversal axis: the Gran Diagonal
Currently, Line 11 is one of the shortest in the network, with a limited route between Plaza Elíptica and La Fortuna. However, the plan of the Madrid government aims to completely transform its role within public transport. The Gran Diagonal, as this project is known, aspires to become one of the main axes of the Metro, connecting the south and northeast of the region without the need to cross the centre of Madrid. This will reduce travel times, improve transfers, and decongest some of the most used lines of the underground.
For the residents of Valdebebas, who until now have relied almost exclusively on cars or buses to reach the centre, the arrival of the metro will mean a radical change in their daily mobility. The works will begin in 2027 and will last for several years, but the promise of a direct connection to the airport and the rest of the network is already generating excitement.
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