Cristina Hodgson
THE Malaga Metro’s expansion to the city centre has had a significant impact this summer, with nearly two million passengers, setting a new record for the underground transport system.
In fact, in July and August, it came close to the two million passenger mark (1,990,232), marking a remarkable 145% increase compared to the same period in the previous year when it had 810,889 users.
Broken down, July saw 1,010,659 passengers, marking a 133.23% increase compared to July 2022 when there were 433,322 passengers.
In August, there were 979,573 passengers, showing a 159.44% increase compared to August 2022 when there were 377,567 passengers.
In short, in either of these two months alone, the Malaga Metro carried more passengers than it did throughout the entire summer of the previous year.
During the Malaga Fair in August, the Metro experienced a significant surge in passenger numbers, with three times more individuals using the service compared to the previous year.
Between August 11th and 20th, a total of 337,273 passengers utilised the Metro, a significant rise from the 112,248 passengers in the same period in 2022, representing a 200.4% increase.
When comparing these figures to pre-pandemic times, 2023’s numbers were 191.7% higher than those in 2019.
Moreover, the cumulative data for 2023 (from January 1st to August 31st) reached 7,771,787 passengers, marking a 94.85% increase (almost double) compared to the same period in 2022, even though the extension to the historic centre was not operational during the first three months (until March 27th).
In the months when the two new stations, Guadalmedina and Atarazanas, were available (between April and August), the average growth compared to 2022 surged to 124.03%.
Improved Subway Service with New Trains in September
Additionally, in September, the arrival of new trains is expected to be completed, allowing for increased subway frequencies, reducing the time between trains during peak hours to less than six minutes.
READ MORE:
- Malaga metro registers highest increase in passenger demand in all of Spain
- Spain’s Malaga metro breaks passengers records on first day of arrival to city centre
- Spain’s Malaga Metro to finally reach city centre after 17 years of construction work
