Case study · Madrid

The pink line, spoken aloud from end to end.

On 29 April 2023, the Community of Madrid and Metro de Madrid unveiled the NaviLens voice-guidance system for blind passengers at Colombia station. Together with Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport T1-T2-T3, it was the line 8 pilot before being rolled out to the whole pink line in August of that year.

Platform of Airport T1-T2-T3 station on Metro de Madrid (line 8): a square colour NaviLens code printed on white vinyl is stuck to the platform floor next to the tactile paving; in the background, a white and red Metro train stopped at the opposite platform, with the yellow and red walls characteristic of the station

Line 8 · the pink line

Nuevos Ministerios ↔ Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport

Pilot stations

Colombia and Airport T1-T2-T3, unveiled on 29 Apr 2023

Whole L8

Rollout reached all 8 stations in August 2023

ES · EN · 42+

Multilingual voice in the language of the traveller's phone

The client

Community of Madrid
Metro de Madrid · Line 8

Metro de Madrid's line 8 — the pink line — is the fast link between the city centre and Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport. Eight stations connect Nuevos Ministerios with the airport's two terminal areas, T1-T2-T3 and T4.

On 29 April 2023, the Community of Madrid's Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, David Pérez, visited Colombia station to unveil the voice-guidance system for blind people and people with cognitive disabilities. Colombia and Airport T1-T2-T3 were the first two stations to go live; in August 2023 the system extended to all eight stations on L8.

At every station, the NaviLens codes appear as a small colour diamond beside the Metro's red diamond, on the upper edge of concourses, on platform signs, in lifts and on outside street panels. On top of Metro's iconic look — red diamond, line colour bands, blue and green signs — NaviLens adds an audio information layer that the passenger receives in their own language.

§ The challenge

Getting to the plane without having to ask for help.

01
The line that connects the city centre with the airport
L8 links Nuevos Ministerios with Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport in just a few minutes. For a blind person or an international traveller, that journey meant memorising different connections, platforms and exits at each station, or relying on staff at every change.
02
Colombia, an L8 ↔ L9 interchange with two concourses
Colombia is a terminus of the pink line and an interchange with line 9. It has several surface accesses through wrought-iron modernist entrances, two concourses with lifts and two platforms on different levels. Without voice guidance, choosing which staircase to take or which lift to use was the first obstacle of the journey.
03
Airport T1-T2-T3, arriving in and leaving the country
Airport T1-T2-T3 station welcomes travellers from all over the world, many with luggage, exhausted, or who don't speak Spanish. The station needed an audio information layer that also worked for international visitors without disabilities, in their own language, from platform to terminal exit.

Accessible gate at Colombia station, Metro de Madrid: at the top of the line 8 blue and pink frame, a NaviLens code beside the Metro's red diamond; to the right of the gate, a blue panel reading «Scan with NaviLens — Station equipped with accessible signage system / Accessible gate — Press to open», with a round blue button and a downward arrow

§ The solution

A NaviLens diamond at every decision point.

At Colombia and at Airport T1-T2-T3 the NaviLens codes sit at the points where the traveller has to decide: outside street panels, accessible gates with a «Scan with NaviLens» sign, lifts with their «Exit 0 / Concourse −1» panel, concourse upper edges above the green Exit signs and, on the platform, on the line 8 «Airport» sign itself with the list of next stations.

The traveller opens NaviLens GO and, with a sweep of the phone from several metres away and without aiming, hears aloud — in the language of their phone — which station they are at, which platform, where the next train is going and which exit to take.

The NaviLens layer lives alongside Metro de Madrid's usual signage — red diamond, L8 pink band, blue and green signs, priority pictograms, tactile paving, braille in lifts: it doesn't replace anything, it adds audio information on top of what is already there.

§ Colombia station

From the modernist entrance to the pink line platform.

Close-up of the Colombia access from the street: under the wrought-iron handrail, the station's blue identification panel reading «Colombia», the line 8 and 9 icons, the «Acceso/Access Ppe. Vergara, even numbers — Colombia» indication and, to the right, a square colour NaviLens code on its white diamond

Inside a lift at Colombia station, Metro de Madrid: «Priority use» panel with pictograms of people with disabilities, levels «0 Exit» and «−1 Concourse» with the Metro's red diamond and embossed braille; underneath, the cabin button and a square NaviLens code at user height

Mid-level concourse at Colombia with escalators on the right: green «Exit» and blue «8 Airport» signs hanging from the ceiling, an information panel with Metro maps and the «Colombia — Platform 2» sign with its NaviLens code on the upper edge

Close-up of the platform sign at Colombia: blue «Colombia — Platform 2» panel with a large NaviLens code beside the Metro's red diamond; underneath, «8 Nuevos Ministerios — Airport», «Lift to» indications and the green «Exit — Lift to exit» strip

§ Airport T1-T2-T3 station

The terminal, accessible underground too.

Platform of Airport T1-T2-T3 on Metro de Madrid: a large blue line 8 sign with the list of stations and connections — Pinar del Rey, Mar de Cristal, Feria de Madrid, Airport T1-T2-T3, Barajas, Airport T4 — with a yellow plane pictogram; on the upper edge, the NaviLens code beside the Metro's red diamond. In the background, travellers with luggage and the station's side column

Concourse of Airport T1-T2-T3: on the upper edge, above the line 8 blue and pink band, a NaviLens code beside the Metro's red diamond; underneath, the green «Lift to exit» and «Defibrillator» sign; at the back, the corridor with a colourful artistic mural that decorates the station

Close-up of a bright yellow corner of Airport T1-T2-T3 station: at the top of the line 8 blue and pink edge, the NaviLens code beside the Metro's red diamond

Floor-level view of the Airport T1-T2-T3 platform: a square NaviLens code on white vinyl is stuck to the paving next to the tactile strip; a white and red Metro de Madrid train stopped at the opposite platform, the station's characteristic yellow walls and screens showing next-train information

The codes are installed at the working height of each landmark — top edge of the concourse, platform floor, lift, outside street panel — so a sweep of the phone is enough to detect them without aiming at an exact point, even at rush hour and with luggage.

§ Why it matters

The first pilot of a whole network.

Autonomy

A blind person can enter from the street, pass the gate, take the lift, reach the right platform and get off at the airport without having to ask for help at every step.

Airport

NaviLens turns the pink line into the first accessible, multilingual route from the centre of Madrid to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport — including for international tourists without visual disabilities.

Scalable

What began as a pilot at Colombia and Airport T1-T2-T3 reached all eight L8 stations within months: proof that the system scales to a whole network with the same corporate signage.

§ And your network?