Line 6 (Madrid Metro)

Line 6
Line 6
	Line 6 train in Guzmán el Bueno station
Overview
Other name(s)	Línea 6 Circular
Native name	Línea 6
Owner	CRTM
Locale	Madrid
Stations	28
Website	www.metromadrid.es/en/linea/linea-6-circular
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Madrid Metro
Operator(s)	CRTM
Rolling stock	CAF 8400 and CAF 5000
History
Opened	7 May 1981; 43 years ago
Technical
Line length	23.5 km (14.6 mi)
Character	Underground
Track gauge	1,445 mm (4 ft 8 7⁄8 in)
Route map
Route map
v; t; e; Line 6
	Legend

Line 6 (Spanish: Línea 6 Circular) of the Madrid Metro opened originally between Cuatro Caminos and Pacifico in 1979. This is one of two circular lines in Madrid, but unlike Line 12, it did not open as a full circle. The circle was completed in 1995, taking four stages from its original opening. It has a length of 23.5 km (14.6 mi) and is coloured grey on route maps.^[1]^[2]

The line is made up of 28 stations with 115-metre platforms, linked by 23.472 km of wide gauge tunnel tracks. It allows one to transfer twice to all the lines of the network (three times in the case of lines 3 and 4) with the exception of lines 8 and 11, which start from the circular route and do not enter it, and the peripheral lines. (such as line 12 and the Light Metro lines).

Being built to allow transfers with many other lines and to cover the entire central area of the city, plagued by unevenness, it is one of the first lines, along with line 5, that was built at great depth, so that it would not suffer major damage from unevenness in its route. Thus, for example, the greatest depth of the Madrid Metro system is reached at the Cuatro Caminos station (a depth of 45 meters below ground) given that the tunnel is at the same altitude above sea level as, for example, in Príncipe Pío, its most superficial point (where it still remains two stories below the ground). This means that although the line is of very high utility in the system, sometimes some of the transfers are longer than the average in the network.

Along its route are some of the large interchanges built in recent years: Moncloa, Príncipe Pío, Plaza Elíptica and Avenida de América, in addition to the correspondence with Cercanías Renfe in Nuevos Ministerios, Laguna and Méndez Álvaro (which also coincides with the South Bus Station of Madrid).

History

First on 7 May 1981, the line was extended from Pacifico to Oporto, then on 1 June 1983, the line was extended from Oporto to Laguna. Thirdly the line was extended from Cuatro Caminos to Ciudad Universitaria serving Madrid's Complutense university on 13 January 1987, and lastly the line was extended from Ciudad Universitaria to Laguna on 10 May 1995, completing the circle. Arganzuela-Planetario station opened on 26 January 2007 between Legazpi and Méndez Álvaro. This station serves Madrid's Planetarium and IMAX theatre.^[3]

Operation

Line 6 is one of the busiest lines on the network, so to ease congestion on the busiest stations, Madrid adopted the "Spanish solution". This means that at some stations there are two side platforms, and an island platform. This was also used on Line 5, but only two stations preserve the original layout (Campamento and Carabanchel).

Route map and station list at Guzmán el Bueno.

Line 6 uses 6-car trains of mostly class 8400, however the line still has class 5000s on the line.

Trains travelling clockwise (when viewing the route map from above) are designated as "Platform 2" (Spanish: Andén 2), while those travelling anticlockwise are designated as "Platform 1" (Andén 1).^[3]

Future

On 2 August 2024, Metro Madrid announced that they plan to have platform screen doors installed at all stations on line .^[4] The works are scheduled to begin in 1 June 2025, coinciding with the major track renewal works that had already been planned for the line that year. This project is considered to be the first major step towards the eventual goal of fully driverless operations on the line.^[5]^[6] The driverless trains have already been ordered, with the first sets expected to enter service in 2027.^[5]

Stations

District	Station	Opened	Zone	Connections
Latina	Laguna	1983	A
Latina / Carabanchel	Carpetana	1983	A
Carabanchel	Oporto	1968	A	Madrid Metro:
	Opañel	1981	A
	Plaza Elíptica	1981	A	Madrid Metro:
Usera	Usera	1981	A
Arganzuela	Legazpi	1951	A	Madrid Metro:
	Arganzuela-Planetario	2007	A
	Méndez Álvaro	1979	A	Cercanías Madrid:
Retiro	Pacífico	1923	A	Madrid Metro:
	Conde de Casal	1979	A
	Sainz de Baranda	1979	A	Madrid Metro:
Retiro / Salamanca	O'Donnell	1979	A
Salamanca	Manuel Becerra	1924	A	Madrid Metro:
Salamanca	Diego de León	1932	A	Madrid Metro:
Salamanca / Chamartín	Avenida de América	1973	A	Madrid Metro:
Chamartín	República Argentina	1979	A
Chamartín / Chamberí / Tetuán	Nuevos Ministerios	1979	A	Madrid Metro: Cercanías Madrid: Media Distancia: 53
Chamberí / Tetuán	Cuatro Caminos	1919	A	Madrid Metro:
Chamberí / Moncloa-Aravaca	Guzmán el Bueno	1987	A	Madrid Metro:
Chamberí / Moncloa-Aravaca	Vicente Aleixandre	1987	A
Moncloa-Aravaca	Ciudad Universitaria	1987	A
Chamberí / Moncloa-Aravaca	Moncloa	1963	A	Madrid Metro:
Chamberí / Moncloa-Aravaca / Centro	Argüelles	1941	A	Madrid Metro:
Moncloa-Aravaca	Príncipe Pío	1925	A	Madrid Metro: Cercanías Madrid: Media Distancia: 13, 16
Latina	Puerta del Ángel	1995	A
	Alto de Extremadura	1995	A
	Lucero	1995	A