Madrid's Summer Transport Closures: Metro And Cercanías Works Explained

This is the August 10 plan for four Metro closures and the Cercanías works at Atocha. CRTM's replacement-bus timetables are linked with each route below.

Line	Closed section	Dates	Free replacement bus
Line 9B	Rivas Vaciamadrid–Arganda del Rey	July 25–August 13	SE9
Line 6	Ciudad Universitaria–Argüelles	August 1–September 2	SE6
Line 7A	Gregorio Marañón–Pitis	August 2–28	SE7
Line 10	Plaza de Castilla–Nuevos Ministerios	July 4–August 28	S10

Line 9B is the closest to ending — its closure is due to finish first, on August 13. Line 10's closure doesn't fully end on August 28 either: it narrows back to a shorter Cuzco–Nuevos Ministerios section that started in March and runs to the end of the year, for accessibility and renovation works at Santiago Bernabéu station. Other lines at an interchange may remain open; check the particular platform and section.

The closure between Rivas Vaciamadrid and Arganda del Rey has run since July 25 for track renewal work — replacing expansion joints and guard rails on the line's superstructure. It is scheduled to end August 13, with normal service due back August 14, according to the published closure dates.

Until then, the free SE9 bus covers Rivas Vaciamadrid, La Poveda, and Arganda del Rey. On weekdays it runs every 4 minutes from 6:05 to 9:30, every 8 minutes until 23:00, and every 15 minutes after that. Weekends run every 12 minutes until 23:00, then every 15. First departures are 6:05 from both ends; last departures are 1:53 from Rivas Vaciamadrid and 1:33 from Arganda del Rey. Interurban buses 312 and 312A, and Arganda del Rey's urban line 1, are the other options if the SE9 stop isn't convenient.

The SE6 bus covers Ciudad Universitaria, Moncloa, and Argüelles — the closed section — every 6 minutes, every day, through September 2. Sunday to Thursday, first buses leave at 6:05 and the last leave Ciudad Universitaria at 23:20 and Argüelles at 23:33. Friday and Saturday nights run later: last departures are 2:12 from Ciudad Universitaria and 1:48 from Argüelles. For the central stretch, CRTM itself notes that Moncloa to Argüelles is about a 6-minute walk, and Ciudad Universitaria to Moncloa around 15 minutes — a real option if you're not carrying luggage in August heat.

The SE7 bus runs the full closed corridor — Gregorio Marañón, Alonso Cano, Canal, Islas Filipinas, Guzmán el Bueno, Francos Rodríguez, Valdezarza, Antonio Machado, Peñagrande, Avenida de la Ilustración, Lacoma, Arroyofresno, Pitis — every 7 minutes, with first buses at 6:05 from both ends and last buses at 1:33 from Pitis and 1:58 from Gregorio Marañón. It closes August 28. EMT routes 12, 44, 49, and 132 cover parts of the same corridor if you only need a section of it; none of them replicate the full Line 7 route, so check your specific stretch. Estadio Metropolitano is unaffected either way — it sits east of Gregorio Marañón, outside the closed section.

Since July 4, Line 10 has had no service between Plaza de Castilla and Nuevos Ministerios, an extension of a narrower Cuzco–Nuevos Ministerios closure that has actually been running since March 28 for a renovation and accessibility project at Santiago Bernabéu station. The July 4 widening to Plaza de Castilla is what enables a separate piece of work — waterproofing and asbestos removal in the vault at Cuzco station. The wider closure runs through August 28; after that, the affected section shrinks back to Cuzco–Nuevos Ministerios only, continuing the Bernabéu project to the end of 2026.

The free S10 bus covers all four stations — Plaza de Castilla, Cuzco, Santiago Bernabéu, Nuevos Ministerios — with eight buses on the road at peak time. Weekday frequency is every 3–5 minutes from 6:00 to 21:00, then every 4–11 minutes; weekends run every 6–8 minutes until 1:00, then every 8–10 minutes. First departures are 6:05 from both ends; last departures are 1:47 from Plaza de Castilla and 2:04 from Nuevos Ministerios. EMT lines 27 and 147, reinforced Metro lines 1 and 9, and Cercanías lines C-2, C-3, C-4, C-7, C-8, and C-10 between Nuevos Ministerios and Chamartín are the other listed alternatives.

Unlike the other three, the Cuzco–Nuevos Ministerios section of this closure doesn't end with the summer — it continues to the end of 2026. If you live or work near Bernabéu, Cuzco, or Nuevos Ministerios, it's the one closure here that needs a longer-term adjustment to your regular commute rather than just riding out August.

From July 23 through August 16, normal C-5 service is suspended between Villaverde Alto and Embajadores. Within that stretch, a limited rail shuttle preserves service between Villaverde Alto and Méndez Álvaro — stopping at Puente Alcocer, Orcasitas, and Doce de Octubre, every 35 minutes — so those three stations keep a rail service, just a shuttle rather than the normal C-5. Beyond Méndez Álvaro toward Embajadores there is no C-5 rail service and no replacement rail shuttle; a valid Cercanías ticket is accepted at no extra charge on a long list of EMT routes instead (22, 59, 60, 76, 78, 79, 81, 85, 86, 102, 116, 130, 131, 148, C1, and C2), though which one is useful depends on your exact stop. Metro Line 3 is the simplest through option for many Embajadores-area journeys. Trains from Móstoles El Soto still run as far as Embajadores every 10 minutes, and trains from Humanes/Fuenlabrada still run as far as Villaverde Alto every 10 minutes — the cut is specifically the middle section, not either branch.

Lines C-2, C-7, C-8a, and C-8b run on adjusted, reduced schedules. Renfe's detailed plan lists these patterns through August 28, while Adif's summary says the reduced frequencies continue through August 30 — check the live timetable specifically for August 29–30.

Renfe's plan also states that through August 28, C-10 runs only Villalba–Delicias, meaning no C-10 service reaches Atocha; EMT routes 8, 19, 45, 59, 85, and 86 cover that Delicias–Atocha gap specifically, and C-10's platform access at Méndez Álvaro is separately closed.

The only Cercanías disruption that clearly reaches into September regardless of which notice you use is a different one: two closures of the Sol tunnel between Atocha and Nuevos Ministerios, on the weekends of August 29–30 and September 5–6, affecting only C-3 and C-4. Renfe sets provisional termini at Atocha for both C-3 and C-4 trains, and a separate provisional terminus at Nuevos Ministerios for C-4 trains — so check which terminus applies to your specific train, and use Metro to bridge Atocha and Nuevos Ministerios on those two weekends.