This sounds like a question for our transportation expert, member Torrales.

But if not, does anyone know the status of the famed - or INFAMOUS - "el túnel de la risa"? This is the tunnel connecting Chamartin station with Atocha station.

Was it EVER opened? Seems to me it never was opened. If not, what's the hold up? Why the constant delays? At one point I heard it was delayed because of the archaeological excavation in the Puerta del Sol but I'm not sure that's the only thing causing the delay. Maybe so. Can anyone confirm?

Saludos, MadridMan

Its proper nickname is Tubo de la Risa rather than Tunel, but it is true that most people (and, what is worse, most journalists) name them Tunel rather than Tubo[*].

Actually, you are asking about the Tubo de la Risa-II, because Tubo de la Risa-I is working since 1967 . TR-I is the one that currently connects Atocha and Chamartin via Recoletos and Nuevos Ministerios.

Responding to your question, the TR-II is expected to open in the first half of 2008. It will do with only Nuevos Ministerios as intermediate stop. The station at Sol is expected to open by 2009 because there are some works in it left, mainly its accesses to the street and connections to Metro. The station at Alonso Martinez still has not a target date, nothing has been done there due to a disagreement about the share of the budget that corresponds to each:
* Madrid City Council,
* Madrid Community, and
* Government of Spain.

As far as I know, the works to connect its tracks to the current ones at the Northern edge (Chamartin) are almost finished, while they are already connected at the Southern edge (Atocha). There, in the South, there are a couple things to be done yet before opening: the lines that will go through TR-II are C3 (from Aranjuez) and C4 (from Parla). To align them with the tunnel entrance, they have to cross many other tracks and this will be done using two flying junctions . The first one is almost finished, and the second one is expected to begin its construction in a couple weeks (once the first one is finished)

I'll let you know when I get more precise dates.

[*]A Tubo de la Risa (Laughs Tube) was a popular amusement device in the fairs back in the 30s. It consisted in a horizontal-axis cylinder capable of holding several people inside -more than 7 feet of diameter-, that spinned around its axis, causing people inside to run or stumble and fall. When the project of digging a tunnel for trains that would cross Madrid from North to South was announced, back in 1933, most of the people didn't believe it were possible and began to joke about it, and nicknaming it like the fairs' device. The Spanish Civil War interrupted the works, and it only could be working 34 years later, but it proved to be feasible. Here you have a press excerpt from 1933 informing about problems in the works of TR-I (TR 'only', by then) and attaching a pic of a real Tubo de la Risa.

Thanks for the explanation/clarification, Torrales! I KNEW you'd have an answer.

I mainly ask because someone in Korea was asking ME if there existed an underground train in Madrid. I could only think of this TUBO de la Risa (TR-2) which is now under construction and and didn't realize there already was one (TR-1).

But the TR-1 is totally underground from Chamartin to Atocha (via Recoletos and Nuevos Ministerios)?

Saludos, MadridMan

Absolutely.

But it is not the only train tunnel across Madrid. There are two more of a significant length in the city of Madrid:
- Atocha-Cuatro Vientos (via Embajadores-Aluche). C-5 line.
- The 'Pasillo Verde Ferroviario' (Principe Pio-Piramides-Delicias). Used by lines C-7 and C-10.

There are some others, but shorter.

See this map. The blue line is the Tubo de la Risa, the red one is Atocha-Cuatro Vientos, and the green one is the Pasillo Verde:

great info and great shot Torrales, I guess we can call the Tubos expert : !