100 years of Metro at Vallecas
We celebrate a birthday again. This time on line 1, which was then called the North-South line. On 8 May 1923, a new section of this line was opened to the public, with three stations: Menéndez Pelayo, Pacífico and Puente de Vallecas.
Line 1 of the Compañía Metropolitano Alfonso XIII was extended towards the south for the second time, gaining 2,297 metres. In addition, for the first time, the suburban railway left the city of Madrid, as the town of Vallecas was an independent municipality until 1950.
Although the opening to the public was on 8 May, the inauguration was held a few days earlier, on 4 May. The then ministers of the Interior and Public Works, the governor, the Mayor of Madrid and the Director of the company, Miguel Otamendi, attended.
The trip was just four and a half minutes between Puente de Vallecas and Atocha and less than ten minutes if you wanted to get to Puerta del Sol. The fare between Sol and Puente de Vallecas was 25 cents. This fare provoked some complaints from Vallecas residents. The unified tram fare was only 15 cents and users felt that the metro fares were high by comparison.
The new stations that were opened ran along the axis of Calle del Pacífico –now known as Avenida Ciudad de Barcelona. The area was then an urban area that had begun to consolidate at the turn of the century. This was a large population centre, mostly working people who needed to commute to work in a timely manner.
In the old Pacific concourse, now part of the Metro Museums, you can get an idea of what the stations were like at the time.
Line 1 is now much longer, with 33 stations and 21.8 kilometres of track. And because of its peculiar history, it is a line with a lot of art. To celebrate its birthday, we invite you to rediscover all its nooks and crannies: https://www.metromadrid.es/es/noticia/lineas-con-arte-la-linea-1-un-viaje-entre-el-pasado-y-el-futuro
