The Community of Madrid encourages Metro users to use the digital pocket map
It can be downloaded free of charge throughout the underground network via the QR code located at ticket counters in lobbies. The paper version is maintained with a smaller print run in order to reduce its environmental impact. In the first month since its launch, more than 230,000 passengers have already installed it on their mobile phones.
The Community of Madrid has set up a QR code in the lobbies of all Metro de Madrid stations so that users can download the map of the entire underground network in digital format free of charge. So far, more than 232,600 passengers have already activated it on their mobile phones.
Users can find two types of codes to download the map at commercial supervisor counters. With the first you download it directly, while with the second you get the official application which, in addition to the map, gives you access to the rest of the features offered by the app. These include a search for the nearest station, the recommended route between two points, the forecast of the train times at the different stations, or real-time information on the state of traffic or the operation of lifts and escalators.
The paper print run was reduced in 2020 as a result of the loss of passengers and the measures imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; from 6 million in 2019 to 2 million in 2020, a figure that was maintained in 2021 and also this year. With this digital initiative, Metro de Madrid adjusts the print run to the new reality in which the use of solutions on mobile devices is increasingly frequent, while at the same time contributing to a lower environmental impact by reducing paper consumption.
The physical version of the map will continue to be available at stations and there will continue to be special editions, with commemorative designs or designs alluding to specific events or historical moments. A special one was recently produced in conjunction with the Madrid Publishers' Association: the Metro Literary Map, in which the names of the stations were changed to literary titles chosen by readers and underground passengers.
A MAP FULL OF HISTORY
The current design is inspired by the blueprint of the early 1980s, which coincided with a process of redesigning the company's identity. Its composition takes into account the opinion of users, especially requests for readability and accessibility from groups of people with disabilities.
In 2010, the people of Madrid chose the Metro map as a legacy to be inserted into the time capsule that the Community of Madrid buried under the monument to Cervantes. In a popular vote, they also selected it as one of the elements to be bequeathed to the future, alongside the euro or the Constitution.
