How Madrid built its metro cheaply:
In 1995, the Madrid Metro was 71 miles (114 kilometers) long. That would make it the 51st longest metro in the world today, reasonable considering Madrid is the 57th largest city in the world by population. Yet 1995 was the beginning of a revolutionary building spree. Over the course of the next 12 years, the metro grew by 126 miles (203 kilometers), nearly tripling in length. This expansion made it one of the world’s fastest-growing metros, on par with Beijing and Shanghai. Today, Madrid has the sixth longest metro outside of China, and the third longest in Europe after London and Moscow.
# Jun 20, 2026