Atocha cercanias — Local services in Madrid

This is a two part review from a tourist who tried to travel from Sol, via Atocha to Toledo. Part one practical information. Part two is a rant:

Part one:

If you are travelling to Toledo you can ONLY buy tickets online in advance or from the tropical gardens station, next to Atocha. One fast train per hour.

We travelled by train from Sol to Atocha, the ticket machine at Sol wouldn't accept visa so we paid at the information desk. There was no one working at a ticket office.

When you arrive at Atocha you have to walk a long way out of the station, past the buses and taxis and into the Tropical Gardens. Go downstairs and the ticket office is on the right of the platforms. There is a massive queue, if you try to buy a ticket from the machine, it asks you to add ID information like a passport!

It wouldn't let us buy a ticket for the next available train which was 1 hour from departure.

Part two:

You cannot buy a ticket for Toledo at Atocha, or Sol you have to buy it in the Tropical Gardens. There is either a very long queue for the ticket office or a silly machine which asks for lots of ID information like a passport or ID card number.

Atocha and Tropical Garden stations are a total nightmare for tourists, with very little information and totally illogical places to try to buy a ticket.

Staff are generally unhelpful.

There are no ticket machines where you need them.

Madrid public transport trains is totally disorganised and bureaucratic.

Come to the UK and we will teach you how to make it easy for people to travel around using one system, one card and staff who will help you and ticket offices that will always be open!!

For a capital city, this was pathetic!

We wasted 30 minutes of our life here and had to abandon our trip to Toledo. We went to the nearest bar for sangria to recover from...

As a traveller who had never been to Madrid the name of this station really confused me when I was planning my trip and trying to buy my tickets on the Renfe site. I finally realised when I was reading reviews, etc. that the station is close to Madrid de Atocha and when I actually arrived at the Madrid station I realised exactly how close the Cercanias really is. It's basically the same building and there are a few entrances you can use. When I had to take the train to Almeria I used the entrance on the lower level. There's only one train per day from what I saw when I was buying my ticket online and it isn't possible to buy your ticket via eurail and there is no discount either if you have a Global Pass. Tickets are cheap and I'd advise buying your ticket in advance (particularly in summer). My train was leaving at 8:20am and there was just one (bored) staff member that I was able to ask to find out which way I had to go to wait for my train. The station isn't air conditioned except for a waiting area at my gate. Platform number is confirmed around 15 mins before departure and there was no lift to get down to the platform. I don't think it's safe to be on an escalator with your luggage so lifts should be installed for each platform. I didn't use the bathroom but pretty sure it will cost you €1.00. I already had my food for the train but there are a few cafes, eateries and vending machines at the station but you can also just cross the road to have access to even more eateries (although perhaps not all the shops are open at dawn!)....

This station is massive so don’t mistake it as you typical metro. If your travelling out of Madrid make sure to know which out of Madrid. There’s three sections to this station, there’s your different zone section which is not local but just outside of Madrid (B1, C1 etc). If your leaving to go (or returning) you’ll more likely to follow the “fast train” section of the station. This place is busy and crowded but they have loads of helpers to guide you if you need help. The country section has restaurants, bars and commercial areas to set and wait for your train. You can see the board from the bottom but best to get closer to the check in /check out to have a better view. The blue line is not working so if you need a taxi there’s lots of them waiting but I suggest to walk a couple of k’s up and you’ll find a metro then grab a taxi because the taxis have problems getting out so you’ll probably wait too long to get out. The taxi lines runs down to the street coming to pick up customers and to get out is longer. Enjoy...