Madrid Metro Line 4
From Argüelles to Pinar de Chamartín via Alberto Aguilera, Goya and López de Hoyos: 23 stations, all in zone A.
About Line 4
Line 4 has 23 stations spread across the Moncloa-Aravaca, Chamberí, Centro, Salamanca, Chamartín, Ciudad Lineal and Hortaleza districts. Its oldest section runs almost in a straight line along Alberto Aguilera, Carranza, Sagasta, Génova and Goya; it then turns north along Conde de Peñalver and Francisco Silvela and follows López de Hoyos towards Canillas and Pinar del Rey.
It connects with every conventional line except 11 and 12: three of them at once at Avenida de América, Lines 5 and 10 at Alonso Martínez, Line 8 at Mar de Cristal, and Line 1 and the ML1 light-rail line at Pinar de Chamartín. There is no direct link to Cercanías, the commuter-rail network: from Colón you have to walk along the street to Recoletos.
Length: the sum of the distances between consecutive stations published by the Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid (CRTM) in its open data (network routes, updated on 29 May 2026), in one direction and counting every section of the line. It measures from the first station to the last, without the track that continues beyond the termini, so other published figures for the length of the line may be higher. Neither Metro de Madrid nor the CRTM publishes an official length for each line.
Stations on Line 4
23 stations, 9 of them with an interchange to another line (marked with a ring and the colours of the other lines).
Argüelles – Pinar de Chamartín
Main route, 23 stations
History
It started life as a branch of Line 2 between Goya and Diego de León, opened in 1932 under Conde de Peñalver. Line 4 itself appeared on 23 March 1944, with eight stations from Argüelles to Goya; it was known as the boulevards line (línea de los bulevares). In 1958 it absorbed the Diego de León branch.
Since then it has only grown at its eastern end. It reached Alfonso XIII on 26 March 1973, and on 4 January 1979, via Avenida de Ramón y Cajal and the streets José Silva and Ulises, Esperanza. The extension to Parque de Santa María opened in two parts: to Mar de Cristal on 27 April 1998 and on to Parque de Santa María on 15 December, with the line’s first accessible stations. On 11 April 2007 it reached Pinar de Chamartín, more than 60 years after it first opened.
From 13 January to 10 March 2020 the whole line closed to renew the catenary and unify the power supply and signalling. In June 2026 the Comunidad de Madrid (the regional government) ruled out folding the Line 1 section between Pinar de Chamartín and Chamartín into it.
Hours and frequency
The trains are short, with four cars, and the line makes up for it with tight intervals: on weekdays, 2.5 to 3.5 minutes between 7:30 and 9:30, and 3 to 4 minutes from 18:00 to 20:00 Monday to Thursday. The rest of the day it is around 4 or 5 minutes. On Saturdays there is a train every 5.5 to 6.5 minutes from 11:00, and on Sundays every 6 or 7. From 22:00 the interval is 7.5 minutes; after midnight, 15 Sunday to Thursday and 12.5 on Fridays and Saturdays.
The trains
The whole line is worked by a single model, the CAF 3000 series, in four-car formations to match its 60 m platforms and narrow gauge. That train length limits the capacity of each train. The stations, on the other hand, show their age: those opened since 1998 are roomier and more accessible than the older, narrower ones.
Frequently asked questions
There is no interchange inside the stations. From ColónES you have to go up to the street and walk to Recoletos station. An underground tunnel once linked Recoletos, Colón and Banco de España, but today the change is made at street level.
Its first section of 1944 ended at Argüelles and Goya, and every later extension (1958, 1973, 1979, 1998 and 2007) started from the eastern end, following the city’s growth towards Ciudad Lineal and Hortaleza.
No. On 28 May 2025 the Comunidad de Madrid announced it would study integrating that section, currently part of Line 1 and with a stop at Bambú, into Line 4. In June 2026, after complaints from residents, it dropped the idea.