Madrid to invest €215 million for Metro expansion and new BRT projects

Madrid, Spain (Urban Transport News): The Community of Madrid announced the allocation of €200 million to extend the existing network of Metro de Madrid and €15 million for developing a bus rapid transit (BRT) system for the northeast region in Madrid. The Community of Madrid will build three new stations in the Metro network extension to Valdebebas. The planned branch will run for 4.5 kilometres from Feria de Madrid station on line 8, with a planned investment of €200 million. This means the Madrid underground will meet the mobility needs of the area's residents and guarantee access to important public facilities, such as the Emergency Hospital already being built by the Madrid government, the future development of the City of Justice and the expansion of IFEMA. Investment in the Metro extension is one of the measures included in the Community of Madrid's Reactivation Plan submitted by the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, last May. The first of the new Metro stations in Valdebebas will be adjacent to the current Cercanias station and will also act as an interchange with the EMT and with the new electric buses with reserved fast lanes that will be implemented as part of the future mobility plan for the area. As explained today by the Regional Minister of Transport, Mobility and Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid, Ángel Garrido, the station will have a surface car park with reserved spaces, which will act as a deterrent. Following a visit to the site of the new Madrid underground network, which will open its doors in mid-2021 in the area of Plaza de Castilla, the Minister pointed out that the other two stations will serve the central and northern parts of the Valdebebas area. Garrido pointed out that this "redesign of the public transport offer" in the northeast area of the city of Madrid will be completed with the implementation of a "pioneering project" for the city: the BRT (bus rapid transit), an electric bus system with a reserved platform that will serve the residents of Valdebebas. This BRT line will be 3.6 kilometres long, will have traffic light priority at intersections and will entail an investment of approximately €15 million. "With this Mobility Plan for the northeast area of Madrid we guarantee that all the major facilities in the city have an intermodal public transport service," he added. The Minister has highlighted all the investments planned to expand Metro and implement new facilities as a fundamental element for economic reactivation. "Investment in public transport infrastructure benefits us all. It contributes to the economic recovery, promotes the mobility of citizens, which is directly linked to Gross Domestic Product, and drives the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," the Minister stressed. It is pertinent to share that recently "Metro de Madrid" emerged as the "Mass Rapid Transit System of the Year" at Rail Infra and Mobility Business Digital Awards 2020.