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

When this guide first ran in July, CRTM (the regional transport authority, Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid) had announced free replacement buses for lines 6, 7, and 9B but hadn't published their routes or timetables — those closures were already announced, even though the Line 6 and Line 7 works themselves didn't start until August 1 and 2. CRTM has since released the actual bus schedules, and this update adds a closure that was missing entirely — Line 10 — plus the Cercanías rail shuttle detail below.

Four separate Metro projects are running on overlapping but different schedules, plus a fifth, separate set of Cercanías works at Atocha. Here is where all five stand on August 10, and what actually replaces each one.

| 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. None of these four overlap completely — a station can be closed for one line and still working normally for another, so the useful question is always which specific line and section you need, not whether "the Metro" is affected.

The Cercanías works at Atocha are a separate, fifth disruption with their own mechanics and dates — covered on its own further down, since a rail shuttle rather than a bus stands in for part of it.

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 — though Metro has not published an exact resumption time, so check the official CRTM notice again before an early trip that morning.

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.

Both closures were already announced when this guide first went up, even though neither had started yet. What's changed is that CRTM has since released the actual bus schedules.

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, 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.

This is the update worth knowing about even if you don't use lines 6, 7, or 9. 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.

None of the four Metro closures above touch Cercanías, which has its own, separate works at Atocha station — different organisations (Adif manages the infrastructure works, Renfe operates the trains, and both are separate from Metro de Madrid), different mechanics, and a different set of dates.

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.

Check the official CRTM, Metro, or Renfe notice again the night before you travel — especially for Line 9B on August 14, where Metro and CRTM have not published an exact resumption time, and published bus frequencies can shift for operational reasons; that's this guide's own recommendation, not a specific published assurance from any agency. Plan around the specific closed section rather than the whole line: a station can stay open for other lines even when its own platform is shut, and on the C-5 a shuttle can cover part of a suspended stretch while the rest of it has no replacement rail shuttle at all. For Line 10 specifically, budget for the fact that the Cuzco–Nuevos Ministerios section isn't a summer inconvenience — it runs to the end of the year.

The pattern holds from July: Madrid isn't shutting down for the summer. It's running four separate Metro projects and a fifth, separate Cercanías project, each on its own schedule. Knowing which one crosses your route is still the only question that matters.