Gran Vía (Madrid Metro)

Gran Vía [ˈɡɾam ˈbi.a] is a station on Line 1 and Line 5 of the Madrid Metro, located underneath the Gran Vía ("Great Way") and Red de San Luis Plaza in the Centro district of Madrid. It is located in fare zone A.^[1][2]

Gran Vía
Madrid Metro station
General information
Location	Centro, Madrid Spain
Coordinates	40°25′12″N 3°42′06″W / 40.4200103°N 3.7018052°W / 40.4200103; -3.7018052
Owned by	CRTM
Operated by	CRTM
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	A
History
Opened	17 October 1919; 104 years ago (1919-10-17)
Rebuilt	2018–2021
Services
Preceding station Madrid Metro Following station Tribunal towards Pinar de Chamartín Line 1 Sol towards Valdecarros Chueca towards Alameda de Osuna Line 5 Callao towards Casa de Campo Out of system interchange Preceding station Cercanías Madrid Following station Nuevos Ministerios towards Chamartín C-3 transfer at Sol Atocha towards Aranjuez Nuevos Ministerios towards Santa María de la Alameda C-3a transfer at Sol Nuevos Ministerios towards Alcobendas-San Sebastián de los Reyes or Colmenar Viejo C-4 transfer at Sol Atocha towards Parla Preceding station Madrid Metro Following station Sevilla towards Las Rosas Line 2 transfer at Sol Ópera towards Cuatro Caminos Lavapiés towards Villaverde Alto Line 3 transfer at Sol Callao towards Moncloa
Location
Gran Vía Location within Madrid

History

The station was opened in 1919 as one of the original 8 metro stops in Madrid. The original name of the station was Red de San Luis after the nearby plaza. The Gran Vía street was still under construction at that time, but a year later the station adopted that name.^[3]

During the dictatorship of Franco, the name was changed again to José Antonio. This was done in parallel with the renaming of the Gran Vía street to José Antonio Avenue by Franco, in honor of José Antonio, founder of the fascist party Falange.

In 1970, the Line 5 platforms opened under the name José Antonio. Fourteen years later, in 1984, the station returned to its previous name of Gran Vía.

For many years, the station was known for the elaborate edifice [es] that housed the elevators, built by the architect Antonio Palacios. It was constructed of polished granite with an iron and glass canopy. To use the elevator, customers had to pay a small fee. The original vestibule, also done by Palacios, was decorated with glazed tiles. When the edifice was dismantled in 1972, it was returned to O Porriño, the architect's hometown.^[4] A replica of this structure has since been installed in the station. Subsequently, with the comprehensive reform of 2018, the project to install a replica of it in its original location was carried out. During the works, the original remains of said temple appeared, specifically the elevator shaft, located at the end of Calle Montera and Gran Vía.

Since July 3, 2016, the platforms of Line 1 of the station have been closed due to works to improve the facilities on the line between the stations of Plaza de Castilla and Sierra de Guadalupe.^[5][6] The completion of the works It was scheduled for November 12, 2016, with the station platforms reopening on November 13, when the work was completed and service was restored on the last section of Line 1 to open, between the Cuatro Caminos and Atocha Renfe stations.^[7][8] In this section, the actions carried out were: the waterproofing and consolidation of the tunnel, the oldest in the Madrid underground, which was reinforced by means of cement injections and special concrete projections with metal support meshes, and the installation of the rigid catenary, as well as the assembly of the rest of the facilities and services. Since July 2017, Line 5 has been closed and reopened in September.^[7][8]

Renovation works (2018–2021)

From 2018 to 2021, the station underwent major renovations and physical expansions, which included the construction of a pedestrian tunnel to the nearby Sol station, at an estimated cost of €18 million.^[9][3] Following a number of significant delays, the station was finally reopened to the public on 16 July 2021.^[4][10] The delay was caused by the finding of the remains of the Palacios elevator and stairs and a collapse risk of the tunnel to the commuter railway station.^[11]

Originally, the completion date of the works was scheduled for April 2019,^[12] but later it was delayed to mid-October,^[13] the first quarter of 2020,^[12] March 2020^[14] and "late 2020 or early 2021". The COVID-19 crisis postponed the progress of the works and the reopening date.^[15] On November 16, 2020, the Community of Madrid announced that the reform works could end in the summer of 2021,^[16] limiting, after an announcement on April 7, 2021, to the month of July.^[17] On June 3, the final date for the opening of the station was announced, July 16, 2021.^[18]

Further reading

• Zozaya, María; Barrena, Clemente y Medrano, José Miguel, La Gran Vía, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, 2002, Madrid. (ISBN 84-87181-83-X).

References

1. "Línea 1". Metro de Madrid. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
2. "Línea 5". Metro de Madrid. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
3. Medialdea, Sara (11 October 2017). "Así será la nueva estación de Gran Vía de Madrid" [This is what the new Gran Vía station in Madrid will look like] (in Spanish). ABC Madrid.
4. Ugarte, Idoia (16 July 2021). "Three years later, Madrid reopens Gran Vía metro station with a retro-futuristic look". El País. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
5. "El domingo se inician las obras de mejora de la línea 1 de Metro" [Works to improve Metro line 1 begin on Sunday]. El Mundo. Unidad Editorial. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
6. Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid. [Information on the closure of line 1 of the Madrid Metro and public transport alternatives] (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
7. Metro de Madrid (12 November 2016). [Metro de Madrid ends today the improvement works in the tunnel of Metro line 1]. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
8. El Mundo (12 November 2016). "La línea 1 de Metro vuelve a funcionar en su totalidad desde este domingo" [Metro line 1 is fully operational again from this Sunday]. El Mundo. Unidad Editorial. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
9. "Cifuentes se gastará 300 millones de euros en conectar Sol con Gran Vía y ampliar la línea 11 de metro" [Cifuentes to spend 300 million euros to connect Sol with Gran Vía and extend Metro line 11] (in Spanish). El Diario. 21 September 2017.
10. Otero Maldonado, Jorge (14 July 2021). "La estación de Gran Vía reabre tras 1.061 días cerrada por unas obras mal planificadas" [Gran Vía station reopens after 1,061 days closed due to poorly planned construction work] (in Spanish). Público. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
11. Casado, Diego (17 December 2020). "La estación de Gran Vía reabrirá con al menos 800 días de retraso" [Gran Vía station to reopen at least 800 days late]. ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 December 2020.
12. Díaz, Paula (12 April 2019). "La estación de Metro de Gran Vía no abrirá hasta el último trimestre del año" [The Gran Vía Metro station will not open until the last quarter of the year]. Madridiario. Público. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
13. "Comienzan las obras de instalación de ascensores y escaleras mecánicas de la estación de Gran Vía" [Work begins on the installation of elevators and escalators at Gran Vía station]. Metro de Madrid. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
14. Cortázar, Ander (3 October 2019). "La estación de Gran Vía no abrirá hasta marzo de 2020, un año después de lo previsto" [The Gran Vía station will not open until March 2020, one year later than planned]. El Boletín. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
15. "El coronavirus retrasa a 2021 la apertura del metro de Gran Vía" [The coronavirus delays the opening of the Gran Vía metro to 2021]. Telemadrid. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
16. "Verano de 2021, el fin previsto para las obras de la estación de Metro en Gran Vía" [Summer 2021, the expected end for the works of the Gran Vía Metro station]. Telemadrid. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
17. "La nueva estación de Gran Vía abrirá el próximo mes de julio" [The new Gran Vía station will open next July]. Metro de Madrid. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
18. Metro de Madrid (3 July 2021). "Díaz Ayuso anuncia que la estación de Metro de Gran Vía abrirá el 16 de julio" [Díaz Ayuso announces that the Gran Vía Metro station will open on July 16]. Retrieved 3 July 2021.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Estación de Gran Vía.

• Station information page on the Madrid Metro web site