According to elDiario.es Madrid, citing sources from the regional government of Madrid, the Comunidad de Madrid has started studying alternative routes to extend Metro Line 11 from La Fortuna station, in the Leganés neighbourhood of the same name, to Poza del Agua, another residential area of the municipality.
Why the route is changing
The change follows an unfavourable report from the Ministry of Defence on the original plan. That plan proposed linking La Fortuna with Cuatro Vientos station on Line 10 through a tunnel of about 2.2 kilometres. The ministry argued that building the tunnel would affect military land in the Cuatro Vientos area.
Following that report, the regional Directorate General of Infrastructure began looking for other ways to continue Line 11 beyond its current terminus at La Fortuna. According to elDiario.es Madrid, the regional government has authorised a contract modification worth 689,000 euros to draw up the project for the southern extension. This is a first step towards preparing the environmental documentation required for the project.
What is planned
The route would likely reach a future southern terminus at Poza del Agua. It would use the space already reserved for Line 12 there, between the Puerta del Sur and San Nicasio stops. According to the report, the extension would connect La Fortuna with the rest of Leganés and link the city to the Metro de Madrid network. Leganés already has seven stations on Line 12, also known as MetroSur, in addition to the station at La Fortuna.
Regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso announced the extension on 10 September during the State of the Region debate, without giving details on when works would begin.
Current state of Line 11
Line 11 currently runs from La Fortuna to Plaza Elíptica, serving seven stations in the Carabanchel district. Works are now focused on the section between Plaza Elíptica and Conde de Casal, which is expected to be completed in 2027. This section includes a tunnel of 6,626 metres, with two new stations, Comillas and Madrid Río, and three interchange stations: Palos de la Frontera, Atocha and Conde de Casal. The tunnel boring machine Mayrit is now working on the final stretch towards Conde de Casal.
The northern section, according to elDiario.es Madrid, would add about 7.2 kilometres of tunnel linking Mar de Cristal and Valdebebas Norte. The central section between Conde de Casal and Mar de Cristal remains undefined. In late 2023 the regional government suspended the tender for drawing up its project, because the other sections it must connect with had not yet been fully defined.