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Sol (Madrid Metro)

Coordinates: 40°25′00″N 3°42′13″W / 40.4167635°N 3.7036371°W / 40.4167635; -3.7036371
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Sol
Madrid Metro station
General information
LocationCentro, Madrid
Spain
Coordinates40°25′00″N 3°42′13″W / 40.4167635°N 3.7036371°W / 40.4167635; -3.7036371
Owned byCRTM
Operated byCRTM
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zoneA
History
Opened17 October 1919; 105 years ago (1919-10-17)
Services
Preceding station Madrid Metro Following station
Gran Vía Line 1 Tirso de Molina
towards Valdecarros
Sevilla
towards Las Rosas
Line 2 Ópera
Lavapiés Line 3 Callao
towards Moncloa
Out of system interchange
Preceding station Cercanías Madrid Following station
Nuevos Ministerios
towards Chamartín
C-3 Atocha
towards Aranjuez
Nuevos Ministerios C-3a
Nuevos Ministerios C-4 Atocha
towards Parla
Preceding station Madrid Metro Following station
Chueca Line 5
transfer at Gran Vía
Callao
Location
Sol is located in Madrid
Sol
Sol
Location within Madrid

Sol [ˈsol] is a station on Line 1, Line 2 and Line 3 of the Madrid Metro. It is located in Zone A and is the most central station on the Metro, located at the Puerta del Sol square. Because of its location, it is one of the busiest stations of the Madrid Metro.[1][2][3]

History

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Madrid Metro

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Line 1 station became operational in 1919 with the opening of the first section of the Madrid Metro between Sol and Cuatro Caminos. The station of Line 2 was opened in 1924, it was built above the Line 1 station and perpendicular to it. The station of Line 3 was opened in 1936, located roughly at the same level as the Line 1 station and perpendicular to the Line 2. The first sections of the first three lines opened included Sol station.[4]

In the 1960s platforms on the Line 1 were enlarged from 60 to 90 m, but bad condition of the foundations of the surface buildings prevented doing that on both platforms in parallel. So one of the platforms was expanded to the north and another one to the south, resulting in the only Madrid Metro station with non-parallel platforms.

Between 2004 and 2006, Line 3 platforms were also extended from 60 to 90 m, this time they are completely parallel. At the same time elevators installation began, that allowed access to lines 2 and 3 and from the street to the lobby since 2007, The last one that was missing (which gives access to platform 2 of Line 1) was inaugurated in 2016, with the completion of the works on the line carried out between July and November.

The station has four entrances, which, given the large influx of passengers, often causes crowds at the entrance and exit stairs. The interior stands out for its large central room with a decorated ceiling, where there are various shops and a police station.

Since July 3, 2016, the platforms of Line 1 have been closed due to improvement works on the facilities of Line 1 between the stations of Plaza de Castilla and Sierra de Guadalupe.[5] The line was reopened on 13 November 2016, although on September 14 the Plaza de Castilla-Cuatro Caminos and Alto del Arenal-Sierra de Guadalupe sections were reopened.[5][6] And the opening of the Atocha Renfe-Alto del Arenal section was also brought forward.

Parallel to these works, they have carried out the necessary work to install the missing elevator in the station that communicates with platform 2 of line 1. These works began in February 2016,[7][8] to achieve full accessibility of the station. The elevator connects the main lobby with the aforementioned platform and its inauguration was in November 2016, coinciding with the end of the improvement works on Line 1.[9]

Between April 24 and May 13, 2019, the platforms of Line 2 remained closed to the public due to an incident on the line.[10][11]

Sponsorships

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The station was renamed 'vodafone Sol' from 2013 to 2016.

At present, the station has four entrances, which, given the large number of travelers, often causes crowds on the stairs. Its interior features a wide central room with decorated ceiling, where are several shops and a police station.

On 13 March 2012 Sol station was renamed as "Sol Galaxy Note" for a 1-month contract sponsorship by the company Samsung advertising its mobile device. It was a pilot project of naming rights sale to finance public transportation.[12] From 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2016, for sponsorship reasons, the Line 2 station was renamed "Vodafone Sol".[13]

Cercanias

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Cercanías platforms at Sol

In 2004 work began to connect the station to the Cercanías Madrid network, via the Atocha-Chamartín tunnel, an alternative to the previously built one. This tunnel was opened to the public on 9 July 2008 and the station opened on 27 June 2009. The works suffered a 6-month break in 2006 due to discovery of archaeological remains, work on the entire tunnel project was considerably delayed. From 25 June to 23 July 2008 Line 2 was temporarily interrupted to allow the construction of the Cercanías station nearby. Line 1 service was also interrupted from August to 4 September 2008.[citation needed]

On July 16, 2021, the new entrance and exit corridors to the Gran Vía station were opened, linking metro Line 5 with the Cercanías de Sol station, making the Cercanías station connected to the most metro lines.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Línea 1". Metro de Madrid. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Línea 2". Metro de Madrid. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Línea 3". Metro de Madrid. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Get to know them: Sol". Metro de Madrid. Archived from the original on 5 July 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid. "Información sobre el corte de la línea 1 de Metro de Madrid y las alternativas de transporte público" [Information on the closure of line 1 of the Madrid Metro and public transport alternatives] (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Metro de Madrid reabre siete estaciones de la Línea 1" [Metro de Madrid reopens seven stations on Line 1]. El Mundo. Unidad Editorial. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Estación de Sol de Metro Madrid dispondrá de un nuevo ascensor en la línea 1" [Sol Station of Metro Madrid will have a new elevator on line 1]. La Vanguardia. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  8. ^ "La estación de Metro de Sol dispondrá de un nuevo ascensor en la línea 1" [The Sol Metro station will have a new elevator on line 1]. Telemadrid. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  9. ^ "Madrid convierte su red de Metro en la segunda más accesible del mundo" [Madrid makes its Metro network the second most accessible in the world]. El Mundo. EFE. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  10. ^ "El tramo cerrado de la línea 2 de Metro se amplía a la estación de Sol" [The closed section of Metro line 2 is extended to Sol station]. Sala de prensa de Metro de Madrid. 22 April 2019. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  11. ^ "La estación de Sol de la línea 2 de Metro reabre el próximo lunes 13 de mayo" [Sol station on Metro line 2 reopens next Monday, May 13]. Sala de prensa de Metro de Madrid. 11 May 2019. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  12. ^ «Sol, primera estación con patrocinador», El País, 12 de marzo de 2012
  13. ^ Sol Station and Line 2 of Metro Madrid recover their original name Metro Madrid, 1 June 2016
  14. ^ Alcaide, Soledad; Álvarez, Pilar (28 June 2009). "Y ahora, a por la Gran Vía" [And now, for the Gran Vía]. El País. Retrieved 15 April 2015.