The Nave de Motores de Pacífico

Chamberí museums and the Nave de Motores become teenagers

If there are two easily recognisable Metro icons, they are Chamberí station and the Nave de Motores de Pacífico, which are currently celebrating the 15th anniversary of their conversion into museum spaces

Chamberí and the Nave de Motores spent a long period in darkness since their closure as Metro service facilities; some 40 years. But their return was worth the wait. Converted into museums, today they are two of the company's most important icons and constitute a well-deserved tribute to Metro de Madrid's past, following intensive refurbishment work that the people of Madrid and those who visit the city have been enjoying for the last 15 years.

A train passes by one of the platforms at Chamberí station

This anniversary is being celebrated with the success that in these 15 years, some 800,000 people have visited Chamberí and the Nave de Motores, a figure that exceeds the 1,200,000 visitors if all the Metro's museum spaces are added together (until 31 December 2022, a total of 1,211,522 were recorded).

In the foreground, the alternators of Pacífico's diesel engines

Both places were originally designed by Antonio Palacios and were the first two spaces converted into museums of the underground. The idea of its recovery was forged in 2005, through an agreement between Metro and Madrid City Council. In February 2006, a call for ideas was launched for the construction work, which finally began in the last half of 2006. The restoration work lasted until March 2008, when it was inaugurated. The Chamberí refurbishment project was directed by the architects Pau Soler Serratosa and Miguel Rodríguez González, while the restoration of the Nave de Motores was the work of the architect Carlos Puente Fernández.

One of the old Chamberí advertisements.

Furthermore, once again this year, Metro de Madrid is extending the days and hours of operation during Easter so that locals and tourists alike can make the most of the holidays. Thus, Chamberí station, the Nave de Motores, the Chamartín exhibition of historic trains and the Caños del Peral will be open between Monday 3 and Saturday 8 April between 10 am and 2 pm and 4 pm and 8 pm, while on Sunday 9 April, they will be open only in the morning. The Pacífico foyer will open on Saturday 9 April, also between 10 am and 2 pm and 4 pm and 8 pm. Admission is free, prior booking at https://museosmetromadrid.es/.

Control panel of the Nave de Motores.