Atocha Cercanías. Credit: dimbar76, Shutterstock
Commuters warned of long delays as Atocha construction halts key Madrid rail lines.
Train users in the capital are facing a summer of major travel disruption as vital works at Atocha Cercanías station shut down multiple commuter lines throughout July and August 2025.
From Wednesday, July 2 to Saturday, August 30, the €54 million upgrade aims to expand the Sol tunnel’s capacity by 33 per cent and boost overall reliability by 50 per cent, but the works will involve two phased closures that affect thousands of passengers, especially during peak holiday (and heat!) season.
Madrid’s C-5 Line Suspension from July 2 to July 30
The first phase kicks off with a complete shutdown of Line C-5 between Embajadores and Villaverde Alto, cutting a major north-south route into central Madrid.
According to El Confidencial, the closure is tied to ‘work on platform 5 and track 10, and the need to operationally connect the Embajadores and Sol tunnels.’
To soften the blow:
- EMT buses (lines 22, 60, 76, 78, 81, 86, 116, 130, and 131) will run as free substitutes for Renfe&tú card holders.
- Metro Line 3 is also recommended for detours.
- Renfe will run reserve trains at Villaverde Alto during peak hours.
- An extra 20,000 seats daily will be added to lines C-4 and C-10 to handle the overflow.
Madrid’s Sol Tunnel closure from July 19 to August 30
In the second phase, lines C-3 and C-4 will be cut off between Chamartín and Atocha, as the Sol Tunnel is fully closed for construction.
As El Español reports, this will disconnect two of the network’s busiest points during the peak summer travel season, especially while Metro Line 6 also undergoes partial closure.
What to expect:
- Sol station will be completely closed.
- Passengers on C-3 and C-4 must transfer at Chamartín or Atocha, essentially splitting journeys in half.
- Lines C-2, C-7, C-8 and C-10, using the Recoletos tunnel, remain operational as alternative routes.
Renfe warns this could add 45 minutes or more to commutes that normally take just over 10 minutes. For daily workers, especially from Henares Corridor towns, this means longer, more complex journeys.
Why all the disruption at once?
The upgrade is part of the Madrid Commuter Rail Plan, designed to modernise one of Europe’s most congested city rail networks:
- Platform 5 at Atocha will be widened and made accessible for people with reduced mobility.
- Track 10 will be upgraded from a siding to a fully functional line connecting to Embajadores.
- A new diagonal link will offer flexible rerouting during future incidents.
Adif, the rail infrastructure manager, says the works will tackle the “black hole” of bottlenecks at Atocha and Sol and support rising passenger demand in the coming years.
With Atocha Cercanías recording over 88 million users in 2023, the investment could pay off long-term. But in the short term, commuters face what could be one of the most disruptive summers in Madrid’s public transport history.
Do you think the promised improvements will be worth all the chaos, or will passengers lose faith in Madrid’s rail system altogether? It was only last month that cable theft caused major rail delays between Madrid and southern Spain.
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