Madrid Puerta de Atocha: Location map
It's one of my favourite stations, a beautiful historic trainshed now a tropical garden, next to a modern terminus for the high-speed trains south and southeast to Barcelona, Cordoba, Seville, Malaga, Cadiz, Algeciras, Granada, Alicante & Valencia. There has been a station here since 1851, although the old trainshed dates from 1892. Note that from August 2022 onwards, some trains to/from Alicante will use Madrid Chamartin.
The historic station trainshed
Madrid Atocha's beautiful original train shed opened in 1892. A hundred years later, in 1992 it had its tracks removed and is now a lovely tropical garden. There are several bars & restaurants with outside tables, making this a great place to wait for your train. The left luggage lockers are in the far right corner in the photo below. There's an exit to the ground level taxi rank on the left.
Exterior of the old 1892 trainshed. Courtesy of Simon Andersen
The old trainshed of 1892 with cafes, bars & tropical garden. See panorama photo of Madrid Atocha old hall. Courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.
A wider shot, showing the ramps up to the departures lounge. Taken from roughly where the white arrow is in the photo here. Courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.
Arriving at Madrid Atocha
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If you arrive in the Puerta de Atocha terminus platforms as all AVE trains and most other high-speed trains do, you need to go up the travelators/escalators onto the arrivals footbridge then through the long arrivals passageway to the arrivals exit. From there you can head back down to the main concourse and the tropical garden in the old trainshed.
Unfortunately, you can't just walk forwards off the end of the platform straight ahead onto the concourse and into the tropical garden which would be much more direct!
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The taxi rank for arrivals is on the top level, where the roadway passes over the modern terminus platforms.
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A handful of Talgo & Altaria trains from Alicante or Almeria head north beyond Atocha to Chamartin and/or northern Spain. If you're on one of these it will arrive at platform 5 at Madrid Atocha-Cercanias. Similarly, a handful of Talgo or Altaria trains from Gijon or Santander run south beyond Madrid Chamartin to Madrid Atocha-Cercanias platform 6 then south to Almeria or Alicante. Arriving at platforms 5 or 6 you walk up the escalators at the northern end of the platform and through the ticket barriers onto the main concourse. Turn left to reach the old trainshed with the tropical gardens.
Changing trains at Madrid Atocha
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Some journeys involve an easy same-station change at Madrid Atocha, such as Barcelona to Algeciras, or Barcelona to Seville or Malaga if the direct trains don't suit you. Unfortunately, you can't just arrive on one platform, walk over to another platform and get on your onward train as you can anywhere else in Europe.
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You normally need to follow all the other passengers up the travelators from the platform (level 0) into the long passageway to the arrivals hall on level 1. In the left hand corner of the arrivals hall, there's an inconspicuous exit marked Salidas / Departures. This takes you directly into the level 1 departures hall without having to go downstairs into the tropical garden and back up through the normal departures entrance.
The interchange passage has its own ticket check and X-ray baggage check at the entrance to the departures hall, usually without any queues, so you by-pass the busy row of X-ray scanners at the main entrance to departures. When boarding starts, you go down the travelators onto the platform with all the other departing passengers. I'd allow at least half an hour between trains.
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However, Renfe sell some through journeys with guaranteed connections of as little as 18 minutes at Madrid Atocha (for example, Barcelona-Madrid-Malaga) and in such cases you may be met by a member of staff holding a board saying (in this example) Enlace Cordoba Malaga, (Enlace means connection) and they'll show passengers directly to the onward train without having to go through departure screening again. There's no easy way to know beforehand if this arrangement will apply, just be on the lookout!
Leaving from Madrid Puerta de Atocha
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Today's high-speed trains leave from 15 modern terminus platforms built as a southward extension to the old trainshed, referred to as Madrid Puerta de Atocha. These are Puerta de Atocha platforms 1 to 15, numbered from left to right as you look towards the trains. There are two ways to access these platforms, depending on your destination.
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To board an AVE to Barcelona, Zaragoza, Figueres, Girona, Cordoba, Seville, Malaga, Perpignan, Avignon, Marseille, or an Altaria train to Ronda, Algeciras, Jerez or Cadiz...
Starting in the old trainshed with the tropical gardens, go up the travelators shown in the photo below and go through the gateway to the departures area marked by the big white arrow.
At the entrance to the departures area there's a X-ray check of all baggage, it's immediately behind the white arrow in the photo below. There are no metal detectors so you can carry what you like on your person, it's only the baggage that's checked - make sure any penknives etc are in your pockets not your baggage so don't get scanned, to avoid a jobsworth refusing to allow them on, as happened to one passenger. The check is quick and simple, it only takes minutes, but don't arrive for your train with only seconds to spare! The baggage check can get busy at peak times, so I'd go through into departures at least 10-15 minutes before your train.
Immediately after the baggage check you're in the departures waiting area. It has several shops, a cafe, and seating. You'll find the Sala Club first class lounge in the corner to your right. When your train is ready for boarding, staff will check your ticket at the top of the relevant travelator, then you descend the travelator onto the platform below and board your train. They close the gate 2 minutes before departure.
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To board an AVE to Alicante or Valencia or an Avant, Alvia or AV City train...
Walk from the tropical garden through the ground floor passageway marked by the smaller blue arrow in the photo below into a small concourse area with shops, and look for the entrance to the ground floor departures area. There's a simple X-ray baggage check at the entrance to the departures area which can get busy at peak times, so I'd go through into the departures area at least 10-15 minutes before your train. There's a Sala Club first class lounge here too. Staff will check your ticket as you pass through the glass doors onto the relevant platform. The door will be closed 2 minutes before departure.
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If your train is shown as leaving from Madrid-Atocha Cercanias, see the section below.
This photo shows the south end of the old historic trainshed, facing away from the tropical garden. It shows the travelators up to the departures area on the first floor. The white arrow indicates the gateway with the X-ray baggage check through to the departures lounge. The modern high-speed platforms are out of sight behind all of this. To reach the Atocha-Cercanias platforms, walk through the wide passageway on the ground floor in this photo and turn left. Courtesy of Willy Kaemena.
The modern high-speed terminus platforms. This photo is taken from the arrivals overbridge. Courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.
Leaving from Madrid-Atocha Cercanías
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Immediately on the east side of the 15 high-speed terminus platforms which constitute Madrid Puerta de Atocha, there are 10 through platforms one level below ground referred to as Madrid Atocha-Cercanías.
These are used by suburban trains (= cercanias in Spanish, hence the name) which pass through Madrid linking the southern suburbs with the northern suburbs via the long tunnels under the city between Madrid Atocha & Madrid Chamartin.
They are also used by Media Distancia trains to Badajoz & Jaen plus a handful of mainline Talgo & Altaria trains which pass through Madrid on cross-country routes such as Alicante-Santander or Gijon-Cartagena.
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If your train is shown on your ticket or at www.raileurope.com or www.renfe.com as leaving from Madrid-Atocha Cercanías, (sometimes abbreviated on tickets as Madrid A.C.) do not go upstairs to the normal high-speed departures area. Follow the signs to Atocha-Cercanías until you reach these suburban platforms, accessed on the ground floor two minutes walk from the tropical gardens in the old trainshed.
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If you're catching a suburban train you simply you go through automatic ticket gates at ground level then down escalators to the platforms.
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If you're catching a Media Distancia or Longa Distancia mainline train, you must go through a staffed entrance at ground level a little way from the gateline, through a brief X-ray bag check then down the escalators onto the platform. The staffed Media Distancia & Longa Distancia entrance takes a little finding, see the photo below so you know what you are looking for!
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Atocha-Cercanías platforms are numbered 1 to 10 from left to right as you look south. The Altaria & Talgo trains northwards to Santander or Gijon usually use platform 5, as do trains arriving from Badajoz or Jaen. Media Distancia trains heading south to Badajoz & Jaen, and Talgo & Altaria trains to Murcia, Cartagena or Alicante usually use platform 6. But of course the departure screens will confirm the platform.
Left luggage lockers
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There were luggage lockers (Consigna in Spanish) in the northeast corner of the old trainshed with bags X-rayed just inside the entrance before being deposited. However, it's reported that this is closed and has been for some time. To leave bags, check sites such as Stasher.com for nearby locations.
Sala Club 1st class lounge
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Anyone with a Premium ticket can use the Sala Club 1st class lounge. You can also use it with a 1st class ticket on the international AVE to France. You cannot use the lounge with an Elige ticket.
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The main Sala Club at Madrid Atocha is open 05:15-21:30 Mondays-Saturdays, 06:00-21:30 Saturdays & Sundays, with complimentary tea, coffee, snacks & beer. It is located inside the main high-speed train departures area on the first floor.
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There's a second lounge for the ground floor departures area with different opening hours.
To or from central Madrid
Walking
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You can walk between Atocha station and the Puerta del Sol in the heart of Madrid in around 26 minutes. See walking map.
Metro: www.metromadrid.es
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Madrid's modern air-conditioned metro links Madrid Atocha with all parts of Madrid, see www.metromadrid.es. Metro line 1 (coloured light blue on maps) connects Atocha Renfe metro station with Sol (the Puerta del Sol in the heart of central Madrid) and Chamartin (for Renfe trains to Lisbon & northern Spain). You can buy a ticket from the touch-screen machines (which have an English-language facility) for a couple of euros and hop on the next train.
Taxi: Taxi fare calculator
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There's a taxi rank on the top level, on part of the roof of the modern terminus easily reached up travelators from the arrivals hall when arriving by high-speed train. There's another taxi rank at ground level, just outside a west-side exit from the tropical garden in the old trainshed.
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A taxi to Puerta del Sol costs around €8, to Chamartin station around €21.
How to transfer between Atocha & Chamartin
Trains to and from northern Spain usually use Madrid Chamartin station in the north of the city. The trains south to Seville, Granada, Malaga leave from Madrid Atocha station. Metro line 1 links these two stations, but it's easier and faster to transfer between stations by frequent suburban train as this is just a handful of stops. The Spanish for suburban train is Cercanias, look for the orange and white 'C' logo.
Atocha ► Chamartin
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You can buy a suburban ticket to Chamartin from the self-service machines which have an English language facility. The fare is only around €2.20, the machines accept euro notes & coins. If you have an AVE or other long-distance train ticket you may get a suburban ticket free, see the advice here.
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Go to platforms 1 & 2. Trains from these platforms all go to Chamartin, every 5-10 minutes. The journey is 3 stops and it takes just 10-15 minutes.
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If you have a Premium-fare Comfort class ticket you can use the Sala Club 1st class lounge at Madrid Chamartin station, through a poorly marked door next to platform 14. In the Sala Club you'll find a quiet, civilised and relaxing place to wait, with complimentary tea, coffee, juices and free beer. It's open 06:00-22:45 Mon-Fri, 06:10-22:45 Sat, 07:10-22:45 Sun.
Chamartin ► Atocha
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You can buy a suburban ticket to Atocha from the self-service machines which have an English language facility. The fare is around €2.20, the machines accept euro notes & coins. If you have an AVE or other long-distance train ticket, you may get a suburban ticket free, see the advice here.
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Go to platform 6, 7 or 8. Trains run to Atocha every 5-10 minutes. The journey is 3 stops and takes 10-15 minutes.
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On arrival at Puerta de Atocha Cercanias platforms, follow the Salida (Way out) then Grandes Lineas (Main Line Trains) signs to the mainline concourse. For departures, take the escalators one floor up. Your luggage will be X-rayed before access to the departure area. When your train is ready for boarding you descend via a travelator to the platform to board your train. Note that a handful of mainline trains start at Chamartin and call at Atocha suburban platforms (Atocha Cercanias) rather than starting from Atocha's terminal platforms like other mainline trains.
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If you have a Premium-fare Comfort class ticket you can use the Sala Club 1st class lounge at Madrid Atocha station just off the first floor departure area (turn right after going through the luggage X-ray check, walk along a bit, then the door it's on your right). In the Sala Club you'll find a quiet, civilised and relaxing lounge in which to wait, with complimentary tea, coffee, juices and free beer. It's open 06:00-22:00 Mondays-Saturday, 06:30-22:00 Sundays.
