Madrid Chamartin

This guide to Madrid Chamartin station explains what to look out for when using the station to arrive and depart in Madrid by train.

At busy times Madrid Chamartin can be a somewhat chaotic station from which to take a train.
Though it’s theoretically simple station to use, as most of the facilities at the station and the access to the trains, is all housed within one main terminal building.

However, the middle of the concourse in the terminal building now houses food/drink counters and shops, plus the elevators that connect the concourse to the trains are also scattered across the area.
Therefore the sight-lines across the large space are compromised – hence it's a confusing space to navigate.

Also at busy times the concourse struggles to cope with the crowds waiting for and queueing for the long distance ‘larga distancia’ trains.
Long queues inevitably build up for the ticket checks that are now carried out at the entrances to the vias (tracks/platforms) that the AVE and Alvia trains depart from – and Charmatin wasn’t designed for this scenario.

....................................................................
 

Four Things Worth Knowing About Madrid Chamartin train station:

1: One important facility which isn’t housed in the main concourse at Chamartin is the Consignia (left luggage) office.
It’s housed in a separate building across the street.
Use the exit from the main concourse which is opposite vias 16 and 17.

2: Chamartin station is located particularly far from Madrid city centre.
It's around 2km north of the heart of Madrid - the Puerta del Sol city square.
So taking a Cercanias or Metro train to/from Madrid Chamartin can be a big money saver compared to taking taxis.

3: Madrid Chamartin is the station you usually  need to head to if you will heading north from the Spanish capital by train.

Though some of the Altaria and non-high speed trains to destinations south of Madrid commence their journeys at Chamartin before calling at Atocha.
Also some Alvia train services between north Spain and south-east Spain call at Chamartin before going on to call at Atocha.
So unless you happen to be commencing a journey in the area around Chamartin, you'll have a quicker end-to-end journey if you head to Atocha to join these trains.

Hence the information on this Chamartin station guide doesn't include these trains.

4: When looking at the Madrid metro map ‘Pinar-Charmatin’ station is not the metro stop at Chamartin train station.
Instead you’re looking for the ‘Chamartin’ stop to the left of it – the white circle served by line 1 and line 10.