Madrid subway to run shorter midweek hours
Metro will shut down at midnight between Monday and Thursday to save money
Night owls in the capital will be forced to increasingly rely on the eponymous bus service under new scheduling proposals being put forward by Madrid Metro to make up for a reduction in ticket subsidies.
The private company responsible for the running of the capital's subterranean rail network plans to cease services at midnight between Monday and Thursday, which is expected to affect less than one percent of the service's 2.2 million daily users. The Metro currently runs until just after 1.30am.
Describing trips made during that hour and a half as "marginal journeys," Madrid city transport and infrastructure chief Pablo Cavero said a formal announcement would be forthcoming "in a few weeks." No job losses among 8,000 Metro employees will be necessary, Cavero added.
The announcement comes just weeks after the biggest rise in Madrid Metro fares in over a decade.
