City transport in Madrid is very well organized. Both Madridians and tourists find it easy. It consists of 4 types of public transport: metro, bus, suburban railway and light rail.
METRO is a very long underground line, one of the longest in the world. Madrid Metro has 12 lines, which connect all important city districts, sights, parks, streets. It is very easy to use. The metro station and the metro are marked in red-blue-white. On the main city square Puerta del Sol, there are lines 1, 2, 3, from where somehow everything starts. The metro is easy to use, with or without a map. In each metro train, machines announce in Spanish which is the current and next station, and the same is written electronically in the metro. The metro is open from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
All metro zones in the city center are marked with the letter "A" and in those zones there is a metro that runs through the city center. There are some metro lines that pass through the city center, but they run to the periphery, these are lines: 9, 10, 12 and "light rail" lines.
"Light Rail" is a supplement to the subway from the city center, which are lines ML1, ML2 and ML3. You can also get to Madrid Airport by light rail, and the metro tickets used for the metro from the city center are also valid for the "light rail". Ticket prices for the metro and light rail range from 1.50 to 2.00 euros, depending on the metro line and zone. There is also a daily metro ticket, which is valid for all zones and costs 3.00 euros. A ticket with 10 metro rides costs 18.00 euros.
A total of 200 bus lines run around the city, of which 40 are night lines, which run all night. The main hub of the bus is Cibeles Square, from where everyone starts and where the timetable can be seen. The price of a bus ticket is 1.50 euros, and the ride must not exceed 60 minutes, otherwise the ticket will not be valid.
The suburban railway, Cercanis, has its most famous line C1 and connects Madrid with the periphery and further urban settlements. The ticket price is 2.60 euros.
The Madrid taxi is in recognizable white color. It is very affordable, especially at night. For example, a taxi from the city center to the airport costs 30 EUR, the ride takes 30 minutes.
Author of the text:
Maja Glavaš, Bachelor with Honours in Communicology. Works in Tourism.
Contact: [email protected]; instagram: travel_europe1
