New life for the ghost station on Madrid Metro

New life for the ghost station on Madrid Metro
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By h.b. - Mar 31, 2008 - 8:31 AM

Photo EFE

Chamberí metro station, closed for 42 years, reopens as a museum

What is being labelled as Madrid’s ghost station, at Chamberí, opened to the public yesterday as a new city museum. The station was closed in 1966 and now has been cleaned up and reopened, with the tiled walls showing the advertising of the day. It was closed as reform and extension was considered impossible at the time as the station is on a curve, and as two other stations were nearby the Ministry for Public Works simply closed it and boarded it up as it was.

The station before restauration - Photo EFE

The new attraction was opened by the Mayor of the city, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. It’s on the Madrid Metro line 1 between Iglesia and Bilbao stations, directly under the Chamberí square.

Photo EFE

The new museum at the site has the idea of showing the public a little piece of underground life in the capital at the start of the 20th century. When the station was first opened in 1919, by King Alfonso XIII, a metro ticket cost 10 centimos of a peseta and the population of Madrid was a mere 600,000.

The Museum opens Tuesday to Friday 11am – 7pm. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays it is open 10am to 2pm. Entry is free.

Photo EFE

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