ACCIONA and its partners—Dragados and Rover—have begun excavating the 5.6-kilometer tunnel today for the Madrid Metro Line 11 extension, between Comillas and Conde de Casal stations.

The consortium will use “Mayrit,” an EPB tunnel boring machine built in Germany with an outer diameter of 9.4 meters, a length of 98 meters in length, and weighing 1,500 tons. The machine will install segmental lining rings with an 8,340 millimeters inner diameter and a 320-millimeter ring thickness.

The contract awarded to the ACCIONA-led consortium includes a 6.6-kilometer underground metro line extension and the construction of five stations (Comillas, Madrid Río, Palos de la Frontera, Atocha, and Conde de Casal)—with the first two being newly built—as well as seven emergency exits and five ventilation shafts, plus installation of slab track along this section.

Completion of this section is scheduled for 2027, and it will be the first phase of a larger project planned to span 33 kilometers and 20 stations, connecting Cuatro Vientos with Valdebebas.

NEW CORRIDOR

Once completed, this new mobility corridor will offer an alternative to traveling through the capital’s central areas and will link neighborhoods and new developments more directly, with fewer transfers. It will also reduce travel times and ease congestion on other lines such as the Circular Line—the busiest on the network—particularly between Plaza Elíptica and Avenida de América.

The project is part of the initiatives submitted for European Union Recovery Fund support to accelerate the green transition, innovation, and social and territorial cohesion.