Madrid Atocha (Spanish: Estación de Madrid Atocha, also named Madrid
Puerta de Atocha) is the largest railway station in Madrid. It is the
primary station serving commuter trains (Cercanías), intercity and
regional trains from the south, and the AVE high speed trains from
Barcelona (Catalonia), Saragosse (Aragon), Seville (Andalusia) and
Valencia (Levante Region). These train services are run by the Spanish
national rail company, Renfe. The station is in the Atocha neighborhood
of the district of Arganzuela. The original façade faces the Plaza del
Emperador Carlos V, a site at which a variety of streets converge,
including the Calle de Atocha, Paseo del Prado, Paseo de la Infanta
Isabel, Avenida de la Ciudad de Barcelona, Calle de Méndez Álvaro, Paseo
de las Delicias, Paseo de Santa María de la Cabeza, and Ronda de
Atocha.
Photo — Link
The Atocha station is really a railway complex, formed by the Madrid
Atocha Cercanías and Madrid Puerta de Atocha stations of the Spanish
national railways and the Atocha Renfe station of the Madrid
underground. 11 more images after the break...
Photo — Link
History — At this site, Madrid's first railway station was inaugurated
on 9 February 1851 under the name Estación de Mediodía (Atocha-Mediodía
is now the name of an area of the Arganzuela district, and means south
in old Spanish). After the building was largely destroyed by fire, it
was rebuilt and reopened in 1892. The architect for the replacement, in a
wrought iron renewal style was Alberto de Palacio Elissagne, who
collaborated with Gustave Eiffel. Engineer Henry Saint James also took
part in the project. The name Atocha has become attached to the station
because of the nearby basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Atocha. The
train platforms were partly covered by a roof in the form of inverted
hull with a height of approximately 27 meters and length of 157 meters.
The steel and glass roof spreads between two brick flanking buildings.
Photo — Link
This complex of railway tracks expanded through the years. In 1985, a
project of complete remodeling began, based on designs by Rafael Moneo.
In 1992, the original building was taken out of service as a terminal,
and converted into a concourse with shops, cafés, and a nightclub. Like
the Orsay Museum in Paris, the concourse has been given a new function,
this time a stunning 4,000 m2 (43,056 sq ft) covered tropical garden.
A modern terminal was also designed by Moneo, and built in adjacent land
to serve both the new AVE trains and local commuter lines. The main
lines end in the new terminal; commuter train platforms are located
underground, at the ingress to a rail tunnel extending northward under
the Paseo de la Castellana. The station is served by two Madrid Metro
stations, Atocha and Atocha Renfe. The latter was added when the new
terminal building was constructed and is directly linked to the railway
station.
Photo — Link
Photo — Link
Photo — Link
Photo — Link
Photo — Link
Photo — Link
Photo — Link
Photo — Link
Photo — Link
No comments:
Post a Comment