Part 1 of the Metro Madrid 5000 Series pack. Jump to the next part.
From left to right: original two-tone light blue livery with the “CMM” logo, 1980s CRTM red livery, mid-90s “5500 Series-style” livery (only used on a small minoirty of sets), and the standard blue and white livery from the late 1990s onwards.
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The 5000 Series has it’s origin in the 1967 Metro expansion plan, wich called for the construction of a number of new lines to accomodate the increasing transit demand in the rapidly-expanding Madrid. The new lines envisioned were the current Lines 6, 7, and 9, plus the “old” Line 8 (wich is currently the northern section of Line 10), However, due to the sizeable ridership forseen, for these lines it was decided to ditch the Paris-like narrow loading gauge that the system had used from it’s opening in 1919 (up until and including Line 5, the then-newest in the network) in favour of a larger loading gauge designed for 2800mm-wide, 18m-long cars, likely based on the one already in use in Barcelona for Lines III and V (current L3 and L5), the latter of wich was due to open soon.
Of these “Wide-Profile” lines, the one deemed most urgent was the planned Line 7, as it was needed to connect a developing large residential area (the current Amposta, Hellin and Rosas quarters) to the rest of the subway network, and as such, construction was started in earnest, for a mid-70s planned opening.
To operate services on this new line, as well as all the other foreseen wide-profile lines, new apt wide-profile stock obviously had to be procured, with the manufacturing contract going to CAF – the new trains were to be 18m-long, 2800mm-wide, with four doors per side and formed as two-car sets, with both cars powered, not unlike the contemporary 1000 Series for the Barcelona metro (for the afromentioned reasons).
Designated as the “5000 Series”, the new trains had their bodyshell built by CAF, with the company being functionally the “project manager” and also in charge of sourcing other equipment it couldn’t manufacture on it’s own – namely the 4-by-4 cross-seat interior fittings (soon however modified to the conventional longitudinal seating), made by the Sociedad Española de Frenos, Calefacción y Señales, traction motors, wich were manufactured by General Electric Espanola (the spanish branch of the US General Electric conglomerate), braking equipment, supplied by the Westinghouse Air Brake Co. and the traction control equipment, sourced from the West-German AEG, wich provided CAF with a rheostatic contactor-control system, similar to those already in use on a number of U-Bahn trains (Munich’s Type As, Nuremberg’s DT1s and West-Berlin’s F74s, wich were being built at around the same time). The livery of these trains was also to be quite peculiar and modern – instead of the rust-brown of the “Clasicos” and the cream-and-red, or cream-and-green of “newer” narrow-profile rolling stock, the 5000 Series was fitted in a two-tone light blue livery allegedly based on West-German S-Bahn rolling stock (specifically Munich’s recently-introduced ET420s in the “Olympiazug” blue and white livery).
Indeed, the 5000 Series was a rather modern train for the time, especially in comparison with the rest of then-in-service fleet, a truly striking contrast, considering that the new wide-profile trains (and lines) were the first on the Madrid Metro to be fitted with a number of systems that other subway networks had already taken for granted: ATC, ATS and even ATO, a dispatcher-to-train radio, and most strikingly (going to show how antiquated the operations on the rest of the network was) one-man-operation equipment – indeed, all other Madrid Metro lines were still running with conductors, and would do so (on older stock) until the retirement of the last 1000 Series trains in the very late 1990s.
The first batch of thirty-four 2-car sets (68 cars), out of the total 65 (130 cars) ordered was accepted into service by the Madrid Metro Company (CMM) on the 14th of July 1974, and three days later, on the 17th, the first section of Line 7, Madrid’s first wide-profile subway line, from Las Musas to Pueblo Nuevo (interchange with Line 5) would open, along with Canillejas depot. The remaining thirty-one 2-car sets (62 cars) would be gradually delivered by the end of 1976, with Line 7’s extension from Pueblo Nuevo to Avenida de America.
“Full-5000 Series Assignment” to Line 7 however did not last long, as a sizeable chunk of the fleet was soon “requisitioned” and reassigned to serve the other wide-profile lines that were due to open: the 1st section of Line 6, from Cuatro Caminos to Pacifico, wich openend in 1979, Line 9, from Sainz de Baranda to Pavones, opened in 1980 and Line 8, from Nuevos Ministerios to Fuencarral, opened in 1981. This however soon caused a problem – while the actual ridership of Line 7 turned out to be less than expected (leaving a part of the 5000 Series fleet redundant), the “reassignment” of it’s trains to serve other lines had already gone far beyond what could’ve been “manageable” without causing reductions in service to Line 7, or the other lines. In other words, the 5000 Series fleet, originally bought for Line 7 only had been extremely stretched to cover essentially nearly five times as much trackage, a situation made even worse by the further extension of Line 6 from Pacifico to Oporto in 1981.
This shortage of rolling stock was not a casual fact, but a direct (albeit unintended) consequence of the functional divorce between network expansion and fleet expansion that had been in place for the Madrid Metro since the 60s: planning, financing and constructing new subway extension had been taken over by the Central Government, but the Madrid Metro Company (“CMM”), an historically insolvent institution, had been left with the task of procuring the rolling stock on it’s own, leading to the need, due to financial constraints, to make either under-sized oders or just order enough rolling stock for the most immediate to-open lines as was with the case of Line 7 – hence the rapid-fire extension openings in the late 70s and early 80s, and not enough available rolling stock to operate services on them.
With CMM on the brink of financial collapse, the newly-democratic spanish government (wich had succeded the fascist falangist state after Francisco Franco’s death in 1975) placed the company under the supervision of a steering committe nominated by the Ministry of Transportation, wich immediately drew up and adopted a near-emergency funding and renewal plan. While the most notable item in the plan was the “creation” of a successor to the “Clasicos” trains on the narrow-profile network (wich would eventually become the 2000 Series), a good deal of care was given also to the wide-profile lines, with the committee recommending a purchase of a new batch of 5000 Series trains, especially for Line 6. The first trains of this new second 5000 Series batch, also known as the “5200 Series”, would start to be delivered in 1982, being very similar to their predecessors, barring a few details, namely in term of traction equipment (being equipped with current choppers, still manufactured by AEG, instead of the rheostatic contactor-control). With the arrival of the 5200 Series and their massive assignment to Line 6, a number of the “1st Batch” 5000 Series trains were returned to “their” Line 7, altough a chunk of the fleet remained in service on Lines 8 and 9 (as well as a very small minority on Line 6). In 1986, CMM and it’s steering committee were disbanded, with the Madrid Metro being brought into pubblic ownership and entrusted to the newly-formed “Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid” (“Madrid Regional Transportation Consortium” or CRTM), the agency of the Madrid Community (the newly-devolved regional government of Madrid and it’s area) charged with transit planning, management and coordination between operators as well as financing, such as rolling stock purchase. As part of this change in ownership and management, the old “CMM” logo on the front of the trains was removed and replaced by the Madrid Metro “rhombus” logo.
As part of this financing, the purchase of a third batch of 5000 Series trains (or the “5400” Series) had been envisioned at the time, in order to increase the capacity of existing wide-profile lines. These new trains would’ve been functionally identical to the 5200 Series, but would’ve also fetaured two notable changes – the fitting of VCVF three-phase traction equipment identical to the AEG-manufactured ones already in use on the narrow-profile 2000 Series, as well as most notably, a 3-car formation (Motor-Trailer-Motor or M-R-M) instead of the Motor-Motor 2-car formation of the 5000 Series (and the rest of Madrid Metro’s rolling stock). The plans originally called for the purchase of sixteen 3-car trains, but due to financial constraints (the massive replacement of the decrepit, nearly-80-year old “Clasicos” trains at the hands of the 2000 Series taking obvious priority), it was decided to finalize the purchase only of the trailer cars first, and to eventually acquire the powered “M” cab-cars later, with the trailer cars to be sandwitched into existing 5000 Series sets.
As such, the first sixteen trailer cars (R5402 to R5447, but only evry third number – R5402, R5405, R5408 and so on) were outshopped from CAF’s Zaragoza and delivered to the Madrid Metro between 1986 and 1987, fitted in the striking red and white “CRTM” livery. A problem however soon arose, as while the planned “5400 Series” had been envisioned from the start as 3-car sets and so it’s “M-cars” had their traction equipment sized so that they could maintain the 1m/s^2 accelleration rate of the rest of the fleet, the other 5000 Series trains (both 1st and 2nd batch) were never envisioned to haul trailers, and as such, their addition mandated an increase of power output (and thus higher motor voltages) of the M-cars, or otherwise the 1m/s^2 accelleration rate would be lost. This led to the decision of sandwitching the trailer cars inbetween 1st batch 5000 Series cars rather than the more modern 5200 Series cars as envisioned; this was due to the 1st batch 5000 Series’ rheostatic contactor-control, much more “tolerant to mistreatments” (such as the envisioned increased voltages and ampérages slightly beyond the nominal design value) compared to the much more delicate power electronics of the 5200 Series’ choppers. Furthemore, the 1st batch 5000 Series’ GEE-manufactured traction motors were deemed likewise more “mistreatment-tolerant” than the AEG-made ones of the 5200 Series.
After a few slight modifications to some selected 1st-batch 5000 Series cars (including their repainting into the same CRTM red livery of their trailers), a fleet of twelve M-R-M 3-car sets was formed, using 12 out of 16 delivered trailers (the other four were left stored inside Canillejas depot, as they were deemed not necessary for the time being). These twelve 3-car sets were assigned to Line 7 and Line 8, where they ran either “alone” or coupled with a standard M-M set to form a 5-car train during rush hours.
On the evening of the 2nd of March 1990 at Cruz del Rayo station on Line 9 a catenary wire snapped and fell on the roof of a 1st-batch 5000 Series train, leading to a fire breaking out. No serious casualties were had, except fifteen passengers showing symptoms of smoke inhalation, but the whole 4-car set was burnt beyond repair. However, the bogeys and underfloor equipment was left essentially unshcated, and as such, the four stored trailer cars, as well as the equipment salvaged from the burnt train, were shipped back to CAF’s Zaragoza plant, wich combined the two (as well as four newly-manufactured cab ends) to form a “replacement” 4-car set (numbered M-5131/M-5132 + M-5133/M-5134), wich was “returned” to service on the Madrid Metro in December 1991.
Around the mid-90s, with the arrival of the 4th and final 5000 Series batch, the “5500 Series”, a small number of 1st-batch 5000 Series trains, mostly assigned to Line 6 services, were repainted in a color scheme based on the newer trains, “visually mimicking” their more rounded shape.
In 1998, with the opening of the Alonso Martinez-Nuevo Ministerios segment, Line 8 was “absorbed” into the then-narrow-profile Line 10. As such, the 5000 Series sets in service until then were reassigned to Line 7, wich by then had a fleet of 20 trains, twelve 3-car sets and eight 2-car sets. In order to “even out” the different accelleration performances (depsite the factual “over-powering” of their M-cars, 3-car sets’ accelleration remained rather sluggish), an additional eight trailers of the 5400 Series’ design were procured, essentially identical to the other ones, except for the fitting of air-conditioning. These new trailers were delivered in Madrid Metro’s current white and blue livery, wich was soon rapidly extended to the rest of the fleet.
Soon after, in 1999, for the opening of the “TFM” extension of Line 9 to Arganda del Rey, a number of 1st-batch 5000 Series trains assigned to Line 9 were “argandized” – retrofitted with air conditioning, adapted to slightly higher operating speeds and with their seating restored to the vis-a-vis configuration – and reassigned to the “TFM” section to cover for the delivery-delayed 6000 Series trains actually intended for it.
A major refurbishment attempt for the 1st-batch 5000 Series fleet was made in 2000, with two-car set M-5053/M-5054 being extensively rebuilt by the “Albatros” firm. The refurbishment included a completely new cab and cab interior, based on the 6000 Series, as well as new interior fittings (based on the AnsaldoBreda 7000 Series of imminent delivery). The original traction equipment was however kept, out of the necessity for it to be compatible with the rest of the 5000 Series fleet, with wich it ran coupled to, being usually assigned to Lines 6 and 7. However, nomen omen, Albatros’ refurbishment came out quite “unlucky”, with the refurbished pair experiencing frequent and serious faults and issues, especially in terms of braking, reason why it was quickly moved to being sandwitched between two “normal” 2-car sets in a 6-car sets, before being eventually retired altogheter in 2004.
In 2002, with the full entry into service of the 6000 Series (formed as 6-car trains), the 4-car 5000 Series sets were retired from Line 9 and transferred mostly to Line 6. Four years later, on the 9th of September 2006, the 5000 Series was also retired from Line 7 and replaced with the AnsaldoBreda-made 9000 Series, as the line’s voltage was raised from 600v to 1500v DC in preparation for it’s eastwards extension (“MetroEste”) to Hospital del Henares.
The 20-strong 3-car set fleet of Line 7 was also to be reassigned to Line 6, and formed as six-car M-R-M+M-R-M sets, due to the comparatively high passenger numbers (Line 6 is Madrid’s busiest subway line). One test was made, and the result were considerably poor, with the train’s sluggish accelleration resulting in it failling to stay on schedule and match the speed of the rest of the trains on the Line. As such, it was decided that only the powered “M-cars” were to be reassigned to Line 6 (and reformed into their original 2-car “M-M” sets), with the 20 resulting trailers, fundamentally surplus to any requirement (especially due to the large influx of new rolling stock then ongoing) being instead written-off and stored as spare parts donors in the Cuatro Vientos depot before being eventually scrapped.
This was the beginning of the end, as the now 30 year old trains were now showing signs of ageing, and especially as the constant influx of newer trains (especially the CAF-made 8000 Series) progressively made larger and larger chunks of the fleet surplus to operating needs, it was soon decided to retire the 1st-batch 5000 Series.
Ultimately concentrated only on Line 6 (the last 600v DC wide-profile line, togheter with Line 9), the 1st-batch 5000 Series would be retired in the summer of 2011. Of the 130-strong fleet, 36 cars were sold to the Buenos Aires Subte for 550’000 argentine pesos apiece (about 132’000€ in 2025 values adjusted for inflation), for use on it’s Line B, especially for the extension from Los Incas to it’s current western terminus, Juan Manuel de Rosas. Shipped-out in mid-2011, the first cars arrived in Argentina in november, entering service after some modifications in April 2013.
The rest of the 1st Batch 5000 Series fleet instead was instead stored and then gradually sold for scrap, and eventually srcapped. However, 2-car set M5001-M5002 has preserved by Madrid Metro, owning to it’s historical significance as the first wide-profile subway train – it is currently stored (along with other preserved Madrid Metro rolling stock) in Canillejas depot, awaiting the proposed construction of a proper “Metro Museum”.
Trivia #1
The red livery with diagonal white lines on it’s “face” (front) earned the 3-car 5000 Series sets the nickname of “Apache”, after the native american tribe. The red livery was also jokingly known as the “Legume Red”.
Trivia #1
The eight “5400 Series” trailers bought in 1998 have the non-enviable record of the shortest lifespan of all of Madrid Metro’s rolling stock – just eight years, from their purchase to their retirement in 2006.
Trivia #2
Of the 1st-batch 5000 Series cars that were not sold to the Buenos Aires subte, one had quite an “explosive” farewell:
Car M-5131 (ironically one of the four cars rebuilt in 1990 using the spare trailers and salvaged equipment) was acquired for the “Securemetro” research project of Newcastle University on developing “blast-resilient” subway rolling stock. As part of this, M-5131 was shipped to the UK in August 2012 and blown up with actual explosives so as to study the aftermath of a bombing-type terrorist attack. After the “testing” had been done, M-5131 was moved to the Barrow Hill railway center, and while it’s current whereabouts are unknown, it’s more than likely it (or what remains of it) has been already scrapped.
