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On 17 October 1919, King Alfonso XIII inaugurated the first line between Puerta del Sol and Cuatro Caminos. The line was 3.48 km long and had eight stations. In June 1886, a project for a three-line Metropolitan Railway that would start from Sol was published in El Imparcial; in the style of the London tube. In July of that same year, another project was presented in La Gaceta de los Caminos de Hierro, consisting of a circular line that would pass through the railway stations but not through Sol. In 1888, Gil Meléndez Vargas presented a project for a narrow-gauge line that would go from Moncloa to Pacífico via the Rondas. On 17 April 1892, the inspector of public works in Madrid, Pedro García Faria, planned to build a network of four lines, which should also be able to transport goods. Although Faria obtained the concession for the project, the works were never carried out. In April 1898, Manuel Becerra and Arturo Soria presented a project for an underground railway with Iberian gauge that would go from Sol to Cibeles, Colón and Calle Serrano, where it would come to the surface and head towards Vicálvaro station, allowing long-distance trains to reach the centre of Madrid. In 1904, Ramón Aguado presented his own project, for three lines, two underground and one above ground, that would pass through Sol and the terminus stations of long-distance railways. The project would not be accepted due to its similarity to those of Manuel Becerra and Gil Meléndez. A year later, in August 1905, the Gaceta de los Caminos de Hierro published another project for a metropolitan railway, which would go from Atocha to the Cebada market. On 22 January 1906, another project was published in El Imparcial, for a surface railway from Paseo Imperial also to the Cebada market. A month later, on February 24, 1906, Manuel Becerra's initial project was modified, which would end with the project being abandoned due to bureaucratic difficulties. #touristdestinations #madridmetro