A facelift for Cercanías de Madrid Line C5
posted on 19th May 2026 09:41
On 4 March 2026, MITMS minister Óscar Puente presented a plan to upgrade Cercanías de Madrid Line C5 Móstoles-El Soto via Atocha to Humanes, 23 stations, 45 km) This is the busiest Cercanías line in southwestern Madrid, with an annual ridership of over 72 million - 29 % of all passengers (250 million annually) using the capital’s Cercanías network. This is expected to increase in the future.
MITMS envisages 28 specific schemes to be undertaken on the line. Only some of them will require withdrawal of services, and these will take place during the summer months, when demand for travel is low. Substitute bus services will then be provided.
Investment will amount to an estimated 1.35 billion EUR, of them 650 million coming from Adif’s budget, the remainder from Renfe. Once the scheme is completed the line’s capacity will be increased by 60 %, with improved accessibility at stations and on trains. Some of the specific projects to be tackled by Adif are:
- lengthening of platforms by between 40 and 50 m,
- lengthening of headshunts by 200 m,
- replacement of life-expired LZB by ERTMS Level 2,
- construction of a new station at Mostoles-El Soto, and improvements of accessibility at other stations,
- improvement of emergency evacuation routes, at subterranean stations and in tunnels,
- introduction of bi-directional signalling on both tracks, to improve operating flexibility at times when work is in progress, or when incidents occur,
- redesign of interchanges between C5 and the metro network, to simplify movement of passengers,
- construction of a new train stabling facility at Humanes, where there is already a maintenance base,
- construction of a new maintenance base at Móstoles, with facilities capable of accommodating 200 m long trains,
- ensuring that the entire system is 100 % PRM-compatible, including emergency evacuation infrastructure.
Renfe’s 700 million EUR investment will embrace:
- 40 million EUR for the temporary replacement of train services with bus services, provided by the capital’s operator, EMT,
- 60 million EUR for modernising the maintenance bases at Humanes and Móstoles (the latter base will require 53.5 million EUR),
- 600 million EUR for the acquisition of 35 new EMUs from Stadler (these already being built as part of the spring 2021 contract).
It is expected that the entire modernisation programme will be completed by 2031. As regards the periods of line closures, these are envisaged as follows:
- June 2027 for four months: Atocha to Cuatro Vientos (tunnel upgrading),
- second half of 2028, for four months: during resignalling between Móstoles and Cuatro Vientos, and provision of new headshunts.
In April 2029 testing of ERTMS Level 2 is expected to start. The Class 453 EMUs are scheduled to enter service in April 2030.
