We will be meeting a friend who will be traveling from the airport via metro to Atocha station. Does anyone have a good meeting place inside the station so neither of us will get lost and be able to meet to catch our train. Neither of us has been to Spain before and we will be meeting there to take the AVE to Seville. Thank you.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
First of all, let me describe the Atocha train station.
The part where the Metro station is located is also the gateway to the "Cercanias" network, the commuter trains that travel to various parts of suburban Madrid and other areas of the region.
The AVE part of the station is actually the old railway station itself. The old part has been converted into an indoor garden....very nice...with the AVE departure gates at one end.
If you friend comes off the Metro and heads past the Cercanias turnstiles and through the underground shopping mall, he/she will come to the AVE arrival gates....they'll see people waiting for passengers, and see the tracks off to the left.
Turn right and thru the doors, and they'll be in the aforementioned garden section of the train station. Directly ahead will be a bronze "statute," which is a series of old suitcases stacked up, ready to be moved onto the train, I presume. Meet there.
From there, go up the escalators to the second level departure area for the AVE to Sevilla. You'll go thru security at the entrance to the departure area.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
P.S....have them get off at the Atocha RENFE metro stop, not the Atocha metro stop.