Madrid Trains
Madrid has two long distance railway stations which are Atocha and Chamartín. They run both long distance and local commuter trains. There are three other main stations which serve commuter trains, they are Príncipe Pío, Recoletos and Nuevos Ministerios, and of course a host of other stations throughout the city.
Atocha is the largest and most used station and serves the areas to the south, east and west of the city (and Spain), while Chamartin is used for trains heading in a northerly direction.
Many of the long distance trains from Madrid run on the AVE system (fast trains), with the local services being the Cercanias (commuter trains).
Cercanías Madrid is the commuter rail service that serves Madrid, the capital of Spain, and its metropolitan area. It consists of nine routes and operates between 4 and 5 in the morning until midnight (with the exception of the C9 route), and the frequency varies depending on the route, from 3 to 4 minutes during the week, to one every 2 hours at weekends.
The cost of tickets is based on zones encircling the city from 1 to 7, with prices from 1.25€ to 4.25€. Tickets are also available for 10 journeys and monthly.
A map for the Cercanias system can be found on this web site -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cercan%C3%ADas_Madrid_map.png
