The Madrid Metro Line 11 extension will run to Valdebebas Norte after the Community of Madrid approved EUR 880.6 million for its most extensive metro network project this term.

Official briefing with the planned Madrid Metro Line 11 route map
An official briefing presents the planned Line 11 route from Mar de Cristal to Valdebebas Norte. Photo: Comunidad de Madrid

Madrid Metro Line 11 extension route and stations

Authorization from the Regional Government Council covers the ⁠construction contract for the Mar de Cristal–Valdebebas Norte corridor. The route will improve access to several major economic, healthcare, judicial, and transport centers across the Spanish capital.

The 7.2 km metro section will add four new metro stations: IFEMA-Cárcavas, Ciudad de la Justicia, Hospital Isabel Zendal, and Valdebebas Norte. Two further stops will provide transfers to infrastructure already in operation.

Mar de Cristal will provide interchange with Metro Lines 4 and 8. At Terminal 4 of Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, the new route will connect with Line 8 and the Cercanías commuter rail network, strengthening interchange across Madrid’s public transport system.

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From Mar de Cristal, Line 11 will first run to IFEMA-Cárcavas. The station will provide access to the expansion of the IFEMA exhibition center, the future MADRING street circuit, and the area experiencing the most intensive economic development in northeastern Madrid.

From there, the route will continue to the Valdebebas intermodal hub, connecting passengers with the southern part of the neighborhood and the future City of Justice complex. It will then serve Hospital Enfermera Isabel Zendal, giving the medical complex and its surrounding catchment area direct metro access.

The extension will next reach Terminal 4, strengthening transport links with Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport and future urban development in this part of Madrid. Valdebebas Norte will be the terminus, serving demand associated with the continuing expansion of one of the Madrid region’s largest residential neighborhoods under development.

Construction work inside the future Madrid Río station
Archive photo of construction work at the future Madrid Río station on the Line 11 extension. Photo: Comunidad de Madrid

Network benefits and construction progress

The extension will shorten journeys and help ease pressure elsewhere on the metro network, particularly on Line 6. It will complement construction already in progress between Plaza Elíptica and Conde de Casal, the initial segment of a future diagonal route across the capital.

Work on this first section remains on schedule. The Mayrit tunnel boring machine has ⁠reached the new Madrid Río station in the Arganzuela district, completing the link between the two excavation fronts after passing beneath the M-30 ring road.

The Plaza Elíptica–Conde de Casal works form the opposite end of the planned Line 11 diagonal. The Community of Madrid ⁠reported on June 24 that the 6.7 km section was more than 45% complete, with progress at the future Comillas and Madrid Río stations close to 60% and 58%, respectively. Construction began in November 2022 and is scheduled to finish in 2027, while work continues at the future connection points at Atocha, Palos de la Frontera and Conde de Casal.

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