Madrid Metro Line 9
From Paco de Lucía to Arganda del Rey, crossing Madrid from north to south-east, with a change of train at Puerta de Arganda.
About Line 9
Rivas Urbanizaciones – Arganda del Rey
Line 9 has 29 stations in two sections. The Madrid section runs south from Fuencarral-El Pardo along Ginzo de Limia, Mateo Inurria, Pío XII, Príncipe de Vergara and Menéndez Pelayo, then turns at Calle de Ibiza towards Moratalaz and Vicálvaro. At Puerta de ArgandaES the TFM section begins, continuing to Rivas-Vaciamadrid and Arganda del ReyES with stations further apart and much of the route above ground.
You can change to Lines 1 and 10 at Plaza de Castilla, Line 8 at Colombia, Lines 4, 6 and 7 at Avenida de América, Line 5 at Núñez de Balboa, Line 2 at Príncipe de Vergara and the circular line at Sainz de Baranda. Paco de Lucía and Puerta de Arganda have Cercanías (commuter-rail) connections.
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 9
29 stations, 6 of them with an interchange to another line (marked with a ring and the colours of the other lines).
Paco de Lucía – Puerta de Arganda
Main route, 24 stations
Branch to Arganda del Rey
Leaves the main route after Puerta de Arganda
History
It was built in two pieces. On 31 January 1980 the section between Sainz de Baranda and Pavones opened, with five stations that brought the metro to Moratalaz and La Estrella for the first time. On 3 June 1983 a separate section opened from Plaza de Castilla to Herrera Oria, and on 30 December it was extended south to Avenida de América. The two were joined on 24 February 1986, with Núñez de Balboa, Príncipe de Vergara and Ibiza.
The south-eastern extension reached Vicálvaro and Puerta de Arganda on 1 December 1998, and on 7 April 1999 18 km to Arganda del Rey opened, partly on the trackbed of the old Ferrocarril del Tajuña railway. At first three trains out of every four turned back at Puerta de Arganda; in 2001 the two sections began to be run separately. Rivas Futura was added on 11 July 2008.
In the north, Mirasierra opened on 28 March 2011 and Paco de Lucía on 25 March 2015. Since 15 March 2023 Rivas-Vaciamadrid has been in zone B1 instead of B2. The Comunidad de Madrid (the regional government) expects that once the TFM concession ends in 2029, the whole line can be travelled without changing trains.
Hours and frequency
According to the operator, trains run every 3.5 to 4.5 minutes between 7:00 and 7:30 on weekdays and every 4 to 5.5 minutes for almost the whole day. At weekends the interval is 7 to 8 minutes early in the morning and 6 to 7 from 11:00; after midnight, every 15. The TFM section has a less frequent service than the urban one. Since 1 January 2019 that section closes at 1:30, like the rest of the network; before then it closed at 23:00 from Sunday to Thursday and at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
The trains
It is the only Metro de Madrid line with 6000-series trains. It has also been the pilot line for wide-profile rolling stock, used to test the models introduced between 1990 and 2000, such as the fourth sub-series of the 5000 series and the dual-voltage units of the 9000 and 8000 series. And although most of its stations are underground, it keeps tram-style overhead wire rather than rigid overhead conductor rail.
Frequently asked questions
Heading towards Rivas and Arganda, no: you change trains across the central platform, and the ticket for the TFM section is validated at the exit gates of its stations. In the opposite direction, if you are continuing towards San Cipriano and the rest of the line, you need a ticket valid for zone A.
It was going to be called Costa Brava, after the street it stands on. The guitarist Paco de Lucía, who lived in the neighbourhood, died on 25 February 2014, and the station, opened on 25 March 2015, was named after him in tribute. Its Cercanías connection opened on 5 February 2018.
It stands for Transportes Ferroviarios de Madrid, the company that built the section from Rivas UrbanizacionesES to Arganda del Rey. Although it owns that section, the operation was handed to Metro de Madrid, so the line has two owners.