Atocha railway station

1. Address: Plaza Emperador Carlos V, 28045 Madrid
2. Phone: +34 902 32 03 20

The Atocha railway station in Madrid stands out among its brethren - you can safely say that there is no such station anywhere else. The matter is that the Atocha station is not only a railway station, but also a botanical garden. And come here not only those who need to go somewhere by train, but also just admire the beautiful plants, sit in a cafe almost next to a tropical garden, see the original sculptures that adorn the station.

The name "Atocha" is translated as "drok", but the station is named not in honor of the bush, but in honor of the gate, once located here, and then demolished. He received the name on February 9, 1851.

From Atocha in Madrid, trains leave for Toledo, Aranjuez, Guadalajara, Segovia, Escorial, Avila, Cuenca, Alcalá de Henares. 13 lines of commuter trains converge here. Arrive here and the subway.

History of construction

Atocha railway station in Madrid is not only the largest, but also the oldest. It was built in 1851 by the order of Queen Isabella II, published on April 6, 1845. Construction was conducted under the supervision of the Marquis of Salamanca, and the author of the project was the French engineer Eugene Flachat.

The station became the place of arrival / departure of trains connecting Madrid with Aranjuez, from here the train to the royal residence, located in Aranjuez, departed. In the people this train was called "strawberry".

In 1891 the station was badly damaged in the fire. In 1892, a new station building was erected here, designed by architect Alberto de Palacio, one of the project engineers was Gustav Eiffel, the author of the legendary symbol of Paris. After that, it was also repeatedly reconstructed - for 100 years the capacity of the station has grown 4-fold.

Conditionally the train station in Madrid Puerta de Atocha is divided into 3 parts: the station of international and intercity trains Puerta de Atocha, the suburban station Atocha Cercanias and the metro station Atocha Renfe. The metro station is located under the avenue of Ciudad de Barcelona.

The exterior of the station

As we can observe it today, the station became relatively recent, in 1992; The reconstruction was connected with the Olympic Games, held in Barcelona. The entrance to the station is decorated with 2 sculptures of the heads of kids - one with open eyes, the other - with closed ones.

The old station building - the one in which the botanical garden is now located - has retained its original layout. Smooth bends of the facade, clean lines and a diamond-shaped tower, decorated with antique clocks make the building a desirable object for photographing. The structural elements of the old station are made of red brick and white decorative natural stone, which was mined in Ariz (Zaragoza province); decorations made of terracotta, well in harmony with the brick walls. The internal style is eclectic. The height of the nave is 27 meters, the span is 48 meters, and the length is 152 meters. The roof was made in Belgium by a rigid type system. The building is constructed in the form of the letter U, which is open part directed towards the square of the emperor Carlos V.

A separate hall of modern planning was built especially for the fast Madrid-Seville train. A round building, which, in fact, is a station - the second main attraction of the station along with the clock tower. Near the building of the station there is a monument to the victims of the terrorist act of 2004.

Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden (not to be confused with the Royal Botanical Gardens !) Occupies 4,000 m ² . It is located directly under the landing stage. Earlier here there were ways where the trains arrived, but after the reconstruction for the "reception" of trains new halls were built, and the old one turned into a park.

In the garden there are more than 7 thousand plants specially brought here from Asia and Australia and live more than 550 species of animals and birds, as well as fish and turtles in two very cozy and pretty ponds (altogether about 22 species). Here grow huge ferns, various shrubs and palms; The paths are lined with mosaic, there are many benches on them, where visitors of the station like to relax. Entering the botanical garden is best from Paseo de la Infanta Isabel.

Infrastructure

Atocha has an excellent infrastructure - there are shops, cafes and even nightclubs. You can safely call the station a shopping and entertainment center. There are also hotels here with the possibility to rent an hourly room. Near the station there is a well-equipped parking lot and a taxi stand.

Ticket booths and waiting room

To buy tickets, you need to first figure out where exactly this should be done:

1. Centro de Viaje - these ticket offices can purchase tickets for any train and for any number, payment in cash or by card. To purchase a ticket you need to have an identification document with you. Before entering the ticket office, you need to tear off your ticket with your serial number; when it is highlighted on the scoreboard - you can go to the ticket counter for the ticket. The ticket office for high-speed trains in which you can buy train tickets following to Cuenca or Toledo, works like Centro de Viaje.
2. Venta de Bilettes - ticket offices, which sell tickets for commuter trains. They are easy to distinguish from the others: they are located next to the turnstiles and have a red and white sign. Pay for the purchase of tickets in such cash desks can only be in cash.

Tickets can also be purchased in vending machines, but they are often defective. Atocha station can be purchased (and also rented or exchanged) and tickets for trains departing from Chamartin station, and vice versa.

The waiting room is between 2 and 3 ways, where you can get to after passing the control (the control was tightened after the terrorist attacks on March 11, 2004, when the station was notorious). There is a board with a schedule of train traffic. All information is displayed not only in Spanish, but also in English.

Working hours of the station

Information for those who want to use the Atocha station as a transport hub: the hours of operation of the station itself - from 5 am to 1 am every day. Storage chambers operate until 22.40. Tickets can be purchased at weekends from 5.30 to 22.30, on weekends from 6.15 to 22.30.

How to get to the train station?

Getting to Atocha depends on where you are from. If from the city center, you can walk to it (for example, from Sibeles Square it takes about 15 minutes to walk).

The station can be reached by buses No. 10, 19, 24, 45, 47, 57, 85, 102 or by metro - the light blue line (line No. 1) of Atocha Renfe. Those for whom Madrid is not the final destination, but a transit station, need to know how to get from Madrid airport to Atocha. It can be done:

• by car (taxi) on the M-40 highway (the road will take about 15 minutes, it will cost about 27-30 euros);
• Metro (the road will cost 5 euros and will take 45 minutes); you can take one of the two metro stations - Aeroporto T1, T2, T3 and Aeroporto T4 and take the pink branch 8 to Nuevos Ministerios station, go to the blue branch 10 and get to Tribunal station, go to blue branch 1 and get to Atocha Renfe ;
• commuter train from the terminal T-4; the journey will take about 25 minutes, the trip will cost 2.55 euros, trains want with a half-hour interval;
• by express bus for 5 euros (and spending 35-40 minutes on the road); buses depart from the terminals T1, T2 and T4 (0 floor) with an interval of 15 minutes, called the Express Line Atocha Renfe-Aeropuerto, the buses are painted yellow.