Madrid Atocha railway station

Location
	Madrid Atocha Location within Madrid

Madrid Atocha
Madrid Atocha
General information
Location	Arganzuela, Madrid; Spain
Coordinates	40°24′24″N 3°41′22″W / 40.406528°N 3.689373°W
Owned by	Adif
Operated by	Renfe
Line(s)	From Puerta de Atocha: Madrid–Seville (high-speed) (PK 0.0); Madrid–Levante (high-speed) (PK 0.0); Madrid–Barcelona–Figueres (high-speed) (PK 0.0); From Atocha-Cercanias: Madrid–Barcelona (PK 8.2); Madrid–Hendaye (PK 8.2); Madrid–Móstoles-El Soto (PK 0.0); Madrid–Parla (PK 0.0); Madrid–Valencia (PK 0.0); Madrid–Valencia de Alcántara (PK 0.0);
Other information
Fare zone	A
History
Opened	25 July 1988
Services
Location
Location
	Madrid Atocha Location within Madrid

Madrid Atocha (Spanish: Estación de Madrid Atocha, also named Madrid Puerta de Atocha) is the largest railway station in Madrid. It is the primary station serving commuter trains (Cercanías), intercity and regional trains from the south, and the AVE high speed trains from Barcelona (Catalonia), Zaragoza (Aragon), Seville (Andalusia) and Valencia (Levante Region). These train services are run by the Spanish national rail company, Renfe.

Overview

The station is in the Atocha neighborhood of the district of Arganzuela. The original façade faces the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, a site at which a variety of streets converge, including the Calle de Atocha, Paseo del Prado, Paseo de la Infanta Isabel, Avenida de la Ciudad de Barcelona, Calle de Méndez Álvaro, Paseo de las Delicias, Paseo de Santa María de la Cabeza, and Ronda de Atocha.

The Atocha station is really a railway complex, formed by the Madrid Atocha Cercanías and Madrid Puerta de Atocha stations of the Spanish national railways and a station of the Madrid underground called Atocha RENFE.

History

At this site, Madrid's first railway station was inaugurated on 9 February 1851 under the name Estación de Mediodía (Atocha-Mediodía is now the name of an area of the Arganzuela district, and means south in old Spanish).

After the building was largely destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1892. The architect for the replacement, in a wrought iron renewal style was Alberto de Palacio Elissagne, who collaborated with Gustave Eiffel. Engineer Henry Saint James also took part in the project.^[1] The name Atocha has become attached to the station because of the nearby basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Atocha. The train platforms were partly covered by a roof in the form of inverted hull with a height of approximately 27 meters and length of 157 meters. The steel and glass roof spreads between two brick flanking buildings.

This complex of railway tracks expanded through the years. In 1985, a project of complete remodeling began, based on designs by Rafael Moneo. In 1992, the original building was taken out of service as a terminal, and converted into a concourse with shops, cafés, and a nightclub. Like the Orsay Museum in Paris, the concourse has been given a new function, this time a stunning 4,000 m² (43,056 sq ft) covered tropical garden.

A modern terminal was also designed by Moneo, and built in adjacent land to serve both the new AVE trains and local commuter lines. The main lines end in the new terminal; commuter train platforms are located underground, at the ingress to a rail tunnel extending northward under the Paseo de la Castellana. The station is served by two Madrid Metro stations, Atocha and Atocha Renfe. The latter was added when the new terminal building was constructed and is directly linked to the railway station.

11-M Train Bombings of 2004

On 11 March 2004, packed arriving commuter trains were bombed in a series of coordinated bombings, killing 191 people and wounding 1,800. The official investigation by the Spanish Judiciary determined the attacks were directed by a terrorist cell.

Memorials to the 2004 Attack

On 10 June 2004, a somber and minimalist Atocha station memorial was dedicated for the victims of the Attack. The monument includes a virtual shrine. Visitors to the attacked stations can leave a hand silhouette and a message through special-purpose consoles. A second monument to this event, known as 11-M in Spain, is the Bosque del Recuerdo ("the Forest of Remembrance") in the Parque del Buen Retiro near Atocha. This monument is made up of 192 olive and cypress trees, one for each person who died on that day, with a tree also planted in remembrance of the police officer who died on 3 April 2004, along with seven of the perpetrators whose capture was underway. Initially inaugurated as the Bosque de los Ausentes ("Forest of the Departed"), on the first anniversary of the devastating attack, on 11 March 2005, the site was renamed the following year. The forest is surrounded by a stream, with water as the symbol of life.

Services

Trains from Puerta de Atocha

Preceding station	Renfe Operadora	Following station
Terminus	Template:Avant lines	Template:Avant stations toward Template:Avant stations
Terminus	Template:Avant lines	Template:Avant stations toward Template:Avant stations
Terminus	Template:AVE lines	Template:AVE stations toward Template:AVE stations
	Template:AVE lines	Template:AVE stations toward Template:AVE stations
	Template:AVE lines	Template:AVE stations toward Template:AVE stations
	Template:AVE lines	Template:AVE stations toward Template:AVE stations
	Template:AVE lines	Template:AVE stations toward Template:AVE stations
	Template:AVE lines	Template:AVE stations toward Template:AVE stations
	Template:AVE lines	Template:AVE stations toward Template:AVE stations
	Template:AVE lines	Template:AVE stations toward Template:AVE stations
Terminus	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations	Template:Alvia lines
Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations	Template:Alvia lines
Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations	Template:Alvia lines
Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations
Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations	Template:Alvia lines	Template:Alvia stations toward Template:Alvia stations

Trains from Atocha-Cercanías

Preceding station		Renfe Operadora		Following station
Terminus	style="background:#Template:Larga Distancia color; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" \|	Alaris	style="background:#Template:Larga Distancia color; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" \|	Albacete-Los Llanos toward Castellón de la Plana
	style="background:#Template:Larga Distancia color; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" \|	Alaris	style="background:#Template:Larga Distancia color; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" \|	Albacete-Los Llanos toward Valencia Nord
	style="background:#Template:Larga Distancia color; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" \|	Alaris	style="background:#Template:Larga Distancia color; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" \|	Albacete-Los Llanos toward Gandía
	style="background:#Template:Larga Distancia color; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" \|	Alaris	style="background:#Template:Larga Distancia color; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" \|	Albacete-Los Llanos toward Oropesa
Terminus		Template:Altaria lines		Template:Altaria stations toward Template:Altaria stations
		Template:Altaria lines		Template:Altaria stations toward Template:Altaria stations
		Template:Altaria lines		Template:Altaria stations toward Template:Altaria stations
		Template:Altaria lines		Template:Altaria stations toward Template:Altaria stations
Terminus		Talgo		Alcázar de San Juan
Terminus		Talgo		Alcázar de San Juan
Terminus		Template:Media Distancia lines 52		Template:Media Distancia stations toward Template:Media Distancia stations
Terminus		Template:Media Distancia lines R-1		Template:Media Distancia stations toward Template:Media Distancia stations
Terminus		Template:Media Distancia lines R-2		Template:Media Distancia stations toward Template:Media Distancia stations
Terminus		Template:Media Distancia lines R-6		Template:Media Distancia stations toward Template:Media Distancia stations
Terminus		Template:Media Distancia lines R-7		Template:Media Distancia stations toward Template:Media Distancia stations
Terminus		Template:Media Distancia lines R-8		Template:Media Distancia stations toward Template:Media Distancia stations
Terminus		Template:Media Distancia lines R-8		Template:Media Distancia stations toward Template:Media Distancia stations
Terminus		Template:Media Distancia lines R-10		Template:Media Distancia stations toward Template:Media Distancia stations

Suburban trains

Preceding station	Cercanías Madrid	Following station
Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations
Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations
Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations
Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations
Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations
Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations
	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations
Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Terminus
Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations	Template:Cercanías Madrid lines	Template:Cercanías Madrid stations toward Template:Cercanías Madrid stations

References

^ "Madrid's Official College of Architects website". 212.145.146.10. Retrieved 24 December 2012.

External links

Atocha at Google Maps
Madrid train services visitor guide (English)
The 11-M memorial website (in Spanish)
of Remembrance

[1] "Madrid's Official College of Architects website". 212.145.146.10. Retrieved 24 December 2012.

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