Madrid and Delhi Metro Collaborate on Parcel Delivery

The operators of the Delhi Metro (Delhi Metro Rail, DMRC) and Madrid Metro (Metro de Madrid) have signed an agreement to exchange expertise in the field of parcel delivery using metro systems. This cooperation opens new opportunities for transporting goods in large cities. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Madrid Trials and Their Results

As part of this agreement, the Indian side will draw on the experience of Madrid, where trials of the Última Milla (Last Mile) project have been conducted since September 2024.

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Madrid’s metro has been actively involved in parcel delivery, with 26,000 parcels transported on Line 12 and 7,000 parcels on Line 3 during the trials.

The Última Milla project is part of the EU-funded research initiative FOR-FREIGHT, which aims to reduce air pollution and the number of vehicles involved in transporting lightweight goods. This initiative helps improve the environmental situation in megacities.

How the Madrid Metro Experiment Works

The operation in Madrid is organized as follows: on Line 12, freight trains run in the afternoon, when passenger traffic is low. The trains stop at several stations, with the final station being Loranca, where parcels are picked up for further delivery to a distribution center.

On Line 3, parcels are delivered from a logistics center using DHL express delivery vehicles, then transferred to the metro depot in the Villaverde district. By 6:00 a.m., trains transport the parcels to a warehouse, and from 8:00 a.m., couriers begin distributing the parcels.

Metro de Madrid Representatives to Visit Delhi

From April 21 to 25, 2025, representatives of Metro de Madrid will visit Delhi to learn from the work of their Indian counterparts.

The parcel delivery project in the Delhi Metro started in March 2025, and experts are confident that this innovative model will successfully improve logistics and reduce pollution in large cities.

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