The Community of Madrid handles around 60,000 lost objects in Metro trains and stations every year
Every year, the Community of Madrid takes custody of around 60,000 lost property items on the Metro network, 22% of which are recovered by their owners and the rest are kept in the warehouses of the Customer Service Centre (CSC) at Plaza de Castilla station, which reopened this August following the completion of refurbishment work.
All of them remain for 48 hours at the stations where they were lost, and then, if they are not claimed, they are stored for another four weeks at the CSC. Users can ask for them in person at this office, from 7 am to 10 pm from Monday to Friday, and from 10 am to 10 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. They can also be consulted by telephone on the free telephone number +34 900 444 404 or online via a form on the Metro de Madrid website, which enables them to be located quickly if they are on the underground network. Thanks to all these free channels, the recovery rate is 22%.
Of the approximately 160 items received daily at the CSC, more than half (50.9%) are Public Transport Cards (TTP) and 13.9% are identity cards and driving licenses. The rest range from everyday items (keys, wallets, earphones, mobile phones) to the most unusual ones (microwaves, beach coolers, bicycles, wheelchairs, dental appliances).
In winter, people also lose clothing, like gloves and umbrellas; in summer, they forget sunglasses, and during exam periods, they forget notes and books. In addition, on sports days, team scarves appear, and even on the days when the region suffered the effects of the Filomena storm, someone forgot the skis they used to get around the snow-covered streets.
