Line 3 (Madrid Metro)

The line 3 of the Madrid Metro runs through the city from north to south, specifically between the Moncloa and Villaverde Alto stations, running through 18 stations that make up a 16,424 km tunnel track route narrow gauge, with a journey time of approximately 32 minutes.

It is the only line in the network that has been completely remodeled to renew its aesthetics, functionality and safety, make it accessible to people with reduced mobility and, above all, to prepare it for the greater influx of travelers that it would support with the extension that will be carried out after this remodeling, going so far as to again tunnel the north end of the line (in Moncloa) to facilitate its transfer with line 6 and the bus interchange, and to prepare a hypothetical extension.

History

3000 series train leaving the Argüelles station.

Two trains from the 3000 series at Lavapiés station.

After the inaugural success of the Metropolitan Railway launched in 1919 by King Alfonso XIII of Spain and at the height of this medium, in 1934 a competition began to award the works of the new line between Sol and Embajadores, works that would begin that same summer, but with numerous problems since water used to be found in the subsoil.

Sun – Ambassadors

In 1935, CAF (at that time Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) was awarded the contract to build eight carriages for the new line, an order that was raised to 16 given that the extension of the line was expected and a forthcoming rise in the price of iron. The sixteen electric motors were manufactured by the Geathom company. During the summer of that year, the works, which were advancing at a good pace, encountered new difficulties: the deepest well in the Plaza de Benavente was flooded, given the composition of the land on Calle Preciados, all the houses had to be lowered and increase precautions under the Puerta del Sol and the Ministry of the Interior, among other problems. The line was finally opened to the public on August 9, 1936, in the middle of the Civil War.

Sun – Moncloa

Already in 1935, the founder of the construction company Agromán, the engineer Alejandro San Román, offered the metro the contract for the works of the hypothetical extension of the line to Argüelles, an offer that the company did not reject and that at the end of that year was approved by the Ministry. Since August 6, 1936, the metro was left open at night so that the residents could take refuge, and once the Civil War had ended, and the losses it caused had been overcome, the extension of line 3 to Argüelles was officially inaugurated on the 15th. on July 1941, with the presence of Alfonso Peña Boeuf, Minister of Public Works, and Alcocer y Ribacoba, Mayor of Madrid, remaining open to the public the day after.

Ambassadors – Delicias – Legazpi

At the end of 1945, the concession for the extension of the line to Legazpi was granted with a term of three years and soon after the works began with five large attack shafts. In the following years, the rise in the price of raw materials and electricity restrictions topped the list of problems of the expansion. The delivery of auxiliary material such as pile drivers, sheet piles or cement was also delayed, which led to several headaches. In 1948, the power cables from Callao to Embajadores were reinforced in view of the foreseeable increase in passenger demand after the new expansion. In addition, a plot of land was acquired in Delicias to install a substation for the line. On March 25, 1949, the extension was opened to the public, but only until this last stop, after further delays due to auxiliary materials imported from abroad, since importation was not authorized. The stretch to Legazpi would have to wait two more years to see the light of day.

The extension to Legazpi was continually postponed due to delays in the achievement of sheet piles. While what was possible was done with the low voltage of the electricity in the area and the tram was diverted from the Plaza de la Beata María Ana, the collection of the new section of the line was constantly increasing until it was finally inaugurated. in 1951. On July 17, 1963, the extension to Moncloa was inaugurated, as contemplated in the emergency plan. The aim of this new stop was to reduce congestion on the E bus and provide a better service to those who went to Ciudad Universitaria.

Legazpi – Villaverde Alto

Given the age of the stations, as well as a demand that reached the limit of capacity, in the summers between 2003 and 2006 improvement and expansion works were carried out progressively, among which the expansion of the platforms from 60 to 90 meters, to accommodate trains of six cars instead of four. The platforms were also extended using pile-driving techniques, allowing for wider lobbies and platforms, elevators were installed at all stations and escalators at many, facilitating access for disabled people, new series mobile units were purchased 3,000 and the lobbies were remodeled by removing the ticket offices, installing new vending machines, changing the turnstiles and installing an information booth at each station. In addition, in some stations such as Callao or Embajadores the rails were left at ground level, that is, covering the sleepers with concrete, in the style of a light metro or tram.

Another reason for these works is to face the increase in demand that would foreseeably occur with the extension of the line to the south, from Legazpi to Hospital 12 de Octubre and Villaverde Alto following the route of Avenidas de Córdoba and Andalucía.

Almendrales station has the particularity of having four tracks (two of them without a platform), which allows trains to be diverted so that they reverse the march in the station, reinforcing the service at rush hour between Moncloa and Legazpi.

During the expansion works to Hospital 12 de Octubre, when it became known that there were four tracks in the Almendrales station, there was general fear that the line would be operated with two different sections such as lines 7, 9, 10. With the inauguration on April 21, 2007, it was confirmed that the trains run on a single line and it continues and there is no change of train at that station, as already anticipated, but two of the tracks are used as sidings in off-peak hours for trains that reinforce at rush hour.

Tour

Line 3 Tour

The line starts from Plaza de la Moncloa, in the northwest of the central area of the city, and travels south under Calle de la Princesa, going all the way to Plaza de España, from where it continues under Calle de la Princesa Gran Vía. In Plaza del Callao it turns to circulate under Preciados street to Puerta del Sol, from where it continues south, to go underground through the streets of Lavapiés, Miguel Servet, and after passing under the Embajadores neighborhood, the street of Palos de la Frontera and the Paseo de las Delicias. It crosses the Manzanares River under the Puente de Andalucía and passes under the avenues of Córdoba and Andalucía, ending up next to the Villaverde Alto suburban train station. Connect with:

• Line 1 at the Sol station.
• Line 2 at the Sol station and also in Plaza de España through long correspondence.
• Line 4 at Argüelles station.
• Line 5 at Callao station and also in Ambassadors through long correspondence.
• Line 6 at the Moncloa, Argüelles and Legazpi stations.
• Line 10 at Plaza de España station.
• Near Renfe Madrid at the Sol stations, Ambassadors and Villaverde Alto.
• Interurban buses from corridor 4 at the stations between Legazpi and Villaverde Alto, as well as those from corridors 5 and 6 at the Moncloa station.

Seasons

Stations of Line 3 (north-south sense)

Station	Acc.	Links	Opening	District	Roadmap	Notes
Moncloa			17 July 1963	Moncloa-Aravaca
Argüelles			15 July 1941
Ventura Rodríguez			15 July 1941
Plaza de España			15 July 1941			Underground link to Noviciado station (line 2)
Shut up.			15 July 1941	Centre
Sun			9 August 1936
Lavapiés			9 August 1936
Ambassadors			9 August 1936			Underground link to Acacias station (line 5)
Palos de la Frontera		()	26 March 1949	Arganzuela		Previously Palos de Moguer (1949-1979) Line 11 expansion in construction
Delights			26 March 1949			Connection to Cercanías at 100m at the same station.
Legazpi			1 March 1951
Almonds			21 April 2007	Usera		Four-way station, two of which are used as a separate
Hospital 12 de Octubre			21 April 2007
San Fermín-Orcasur			21 April 2007
City of Los Angeles			21 April 2007	Villaverde
Villaverde Bajo-Cruce			21 April 2007
San Cristobal			21 April 2007
Villaverde Alto			21 April 2007
The Casar			-	Getafe		Construction expansion

Future

In June 2021, it was announced that on January 1, 2022, the expansion works would begin from line 3 of the metro from Villaverde Alto to El Casar, in Getafe, where line 12 and lines C-3 meet and C-3a. These works, which had already been announced on various occasions, had an execution period of 24 months, so the extension would conclude in December 2023, adding 2.5 new kilometers to the line with a budget of 92.3 million euros.

The works finally began on February 8, 2022, although the execution period was reduced to 22 months.