Sol (Madrid Metro)

Sol

Line 2 platforms
Location Centro, Madrid
Spain
Line(s) Madrid Metro Lines 1, 2 & 3
Cercanías Madrid
Construction
Structure type Underground
Other information
Fare zone A
History
Opened Line 1 station: October 17, 1919
Line 2 station: June 11, 1924
Line 3 station: August 9, 1936
Cercanías station: June 27, 2009
Services
Preceding station   Madrid Metro   Following station
Gran Vía   Line 1   Tirso de Molina
Ópera   Line 2   Sevilla
Callao   Line 3   Lavapiés

Sol (or Vodafone Sol for sponsorship reasons[1]) 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. Thanks to its position, it is one of the busiest stations of Madrid Metro.[2]

History

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. Interestingly the first sections of the first three lines opened included Sol station.[3]

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.

In 2004 work began to connect the station to the Cercanías Madrid network, digging tunnel Atocha-Chamartín, alternative to previously built one. This tunnel was opened to the public on July 9, 2008 and the station opened on June 27, 2009. The works suffered a 6 months break in 2006 due to discovery of archaeological remains, so the work of the station was considerably delayed with respect to the whole tunnel. From June 25 to July 23 of 2008 Line 2 was temporarily interrupted due to construction of the Cercanías station nearby. Line 1 service was interrupted from August to 4 September 2008, too.

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 Station 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.[4] Since June 1, 2013 for sponsorship reasons, the Line 2 station became known as "Vodafone Sol" for the next three years.[5]

References

Coordinates: 40°25′00″N 3°42′13″W / 40.4168°N 3.7035°W