Here is Part 2 of Gabe W’s international transit journey. Great job as usual, Gabe!

Gabe here again! When I was last with you guys I was leaving Israel. Now, for the second part of the journey, we stayed in Madrid for five days! So, of course, our plane landed at Madrid-Barajas Airport, which is the main international airport serving Madrid (which is the capital of Spain). Now, all of the international departures and arrivals went through the HUGE Terminal 4 (there are other terminals). The reason the terminal is so big is because it is actually two terminals (T4 and T4S), which are connected by a two and a half kilometer long underground driverless people mover, aptly called the Airport People Mover. The system was built a lot like a subway shuttle line, so I counted it as a public transport system and took some pictures.

A map of the shuttle system. Terminal 4S contained “terminals” M, R, S, and U, while T4 contained H, J, and K.

This is what the front of each shuttle car looked like. It looks pretty similar to the Madrid Metro cars we’ll see in a little bit.

The interior of the car in front of us, packed with people. Also, if you look to the top of the picture, you can see a reflection of the car we were in. Of course, after we left the main terminal we just called a taxi to get to the new apartment.

The main entrance to Legazpi, with the escalator entrance showing.

One of the ticket machines within the mezzanine. It looked quite similar to the ones in Boston.

A picture of some of the Metro tickets, taken the following day. The tickets cost more the further you go, so you have to enter your destination. You could go further than what the tickets “allow” you too, but we didn’t risk it.

Some information on the namesake of the station probably meant for visitors to Madrid and tourists. Too bad it was in Spanish…

A map of Line 3, with one side showing the station name and the other showing the connections.

The platforms for Line 3.

A Line 3 train on the outbound side. In the picture, you can see the ramp leading up to fare control and one of the escalators down to the exchange level. This type of train was used on both of the lines I rode upon, so I can assume it’s standard with the Metro system (not the light rail trains, of course).

The inside of the train that we rode inbound. Like the London subsurface trains, it was a continuous car, with 5 pivot points (so it was the length of a six car train).

One of the main hallways located within Sol. As you can see, there’s a busker within it, and the hallway leads to the escalators to the main room.

A view of fare control and the mezzanine from down the hall. Behind us is the exit to the Line 3 stairs, and way behind us is the Line 1 entrance seen in the previous image.

A picture of one of the entrances to Sol, in the NYC style. The banner states that the elevators are being fixed, and that there is no accessible service at the moment.

Here’s the main mezzanine, taken from within fare control. The mezzanine is clean, modern, and efficient, with ample fare gates and ticket machines. We exited both through this area and came through it later in the day, as we headed home.

Here’s a view of fare control past the main mezzanine. The escalators lead down to the bottom floor of the main room. You can see some of the ads within the station from here, as well as a sign directing the foot traffic.

A view of the main room, from atop the second floor (I took it from the area seen in the last picture). If you go to the right, you end up in the Line 3 hallway. If you go to the left, you head to Line 2. The entrance to line 1 is also to the right, but it comes up immediately after turning. The large black object hanging from the roof is actually a sculpture.

One of the entrances to Callao. This one was built like the standard NYC subway entrance, so the elevators were elsewhere in the square.

A picture of Callao’s main mezzanine, showing the escalator from the more modern entrance (it had the elevator) and the fare gates. Unlike the other stations I visited, the pillars here were metal and reflective, and not just painted white.

A close-up on one of the fare gates (standard throughout the system). The slit at the front is for the tickets, and the green circle at the top is where you place the smart cards for the system (think CharlieCard).

The Line 3 platform at Callao, looking quite similar to every single platform on Line 3 I had already seen.

One of the countdown clocks located at Callao. It was working perfectly, though my (phone) camera caught it at a weird moment. As you can see, it tells you the destination of the next train, the time till the next train, and some other fast-moving information.

Retiro’s small mezzanine and fare control area. The ticket machines were located behind my current position to the right. I quite like how they put a countdown clock right at the entrance, so you would know if you had to run for the train.

Retiro’s platforms, not in the top condition. The concrete was faded and the walls were stained. At least there was no water dripping on the floor (I’m looking at you, Haymarket).

Both Line 2 and Line 3 (and probably the rest of the lines, due to a standard trainset) ran on overhead lines, which weren’t even wires! They were a third rail suspended above the train.

A route 135 approaching from the distance.

A route 86, heading to “Vill. Alto”, which is the terminus for Line 3.

Did you know that the SL1 had countdown clocks at the airport? Well now you do, and they’re pretty accurate! The bus ended up coming two minutes late, but that’s pretty minimal.

I couldn’t get a picture of the front of the bus, so here’s the side.