No end in sight for Malaga metro record breaking passenger figures
Nearly 100,000 more passengers boarded the underground in September compared to the same month last year
The metro is continuing to hit record figures and predictions point towards a continuing rise of passenger figures on lines 1 and 2 connecting the city centre, El Perchel, Carretera de Cádiz and Cruz del Humilladero with the Teatinos university campus and the hospitals, among other points of high demand. This past September - precisely when the academic year begins at the University of Málaga (UMA) - the underground carried nearly 100,000 more passengers than September 2024, rising in numbers from 1.5 to 1.6 million users. Specifically, the latest figure was a total of 1,607,642, which represents an increase of 6.3 per cent compared to the same month last year.
This is highlighted by the recent balance sheet of the concessionary company Metro de Málaga, which has been made public by the regional ministry of public works. The day with the highest demand in September was Friday 26th, with 73,061 users, and the lowest volume was Sunday 7th, with 26,328.
On the way to a new annual record
In terms of accumulated demand in the first nine months of the year, up to 30 September the underground had been used by almost 14 million passengers (13,869,135 to be exact). This figure is equivalent to an increase of seven per cent compared to the same period in 2024, when there were almost 13 million (12,973,931) between 1 January and 30 September.
19.5
million passengers is the forecast for the closure of the metro at the end of this year, a figure that will already be close to the figure set for the "economic-financial equilibrium" of this infrastructure, set at 20.7 million.
Therefore, based on an estimate of the same growth in the last quarter, the forecast is that 2025 will end with a new all-time record number of around 19.5 million passengers.
This figure is already very close to the one established at the time for the so-called "economic-financial balance" of this infrastructure, which was initially set at around 20.7 million users. This reduces the dependence on contributions from the Andalusian regional government to cover the difference between operating costs and revenue, although it should be remembered that the figures are currently altered by the extraordinary contributions being made jointly by the central and Andalusian governments to promote the use of public transport.
Work continues
It is in this context of good acceptance that the works to extend it by a further 1.8 kilometres, to the area around the civil hospital and the future Nueva Hospital de Málaga, are being carried out. The first two sections are already under construction, and the third will start next year, with a time limit of three years for each of them.
The station architecture, signalling and safety systems will also need to be added. The subway and stations will therefore be ready by 2029 (three years from the start of the last of the sections, which will be in 2026). With the deadlines set for the subsequent tasks, the arrival of the first trains at the three stations on the new northern branch is not expected until at least 2031.
Meanwhile, the consultancy firms that won the tender called by the department of public works are continuing to study where the metro will expand once it reaches the civil hospital. The three options currently on the table are: extending it further from that point towards Ciudad Jardín; taking it from the city centre towards El Palo and Rincón de la Victoria; or extending it to the technology park.
