The Government Council of the Community of Madrid has authorised procurement for civil works to extend Metro Line 11 to Valdebebas Norte, with an estimated investment of €880.6 million.
The alignment for the new section was approved in February. It will run for 7.2 km and includes four new-build stations — IFEMA-Cárcavas, Ciudad de la Justicia, Hospital Isabel Zendal and Valdebebas Norte — plus two existing interchange stations: Mar de Cristal (interchange with Lines 4 and 8) and Aeropuerto T4 (Line 8 and Cercanías).
Passive provision will be made for two additional stations: one on Vía de los Poblados in the Cristalia business park area, and another adjacent to Valdebebas Shopping, promoted as the largest retail centre in the region.
The regional authority argues the scheme will enhance accessibility to key economic nodes and facilities such as IFEMA, the planned MADRING circuit, the Ciudad de la Justicia and the Zendal hospital. It will also strengthen intermodality with Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport and the Valdebebas urban developments.
The route will depart Mar de Cristal towards IFEMA-Cárcavas and the Valdebebas interchange, continue via the Zendal and T4, and terminate at Valdebebas Norte.
However, the project faces two principal criticisms. First, the deviation of Line 11 from its original concept: it had been planned to continue via Arturo Soria to Chamartín, serving large areas without metro coverage and improving network connectivity. At Chamartín, platforms are already constructed parallel to Line 1, with a further extension envisaged towards Avenida de la Ilustración.
The central section (Conde de Casal–Mar de Cristal) has been on hold since January 2024, so the original alignment is not incompatible with the Valdebebas branch, which could instead be designated as Line 15.
Secondly, critics argue that several stops serve areas with limited demand. Las Cárcavas is intended to cater for a Formula 1 circuit with few annual events; the Zendal hospital is not surrounded by residential catchment and has seen limited use since the pandemic; and routing via T4 bypasses the higher-density axis along Avenida de Manuel Fraga Iribarne. Nevertheless, a potential extension of Line 11 towards Madrid Nuevo Norte — which would benefit from a direct T4 link — remains under consideration.
Although the shopping centre is under development and due to open before the metro works are completed, the authority does not currently plan to build the station, despite its potential to generate significant demand and underpin the Valdebebas interchange.
While the central section remains stalled, construction is progressing on the Plaza Elíptica–Conde de Casal extension via Atocha.