La North Station It was an old railway station in Madrid, and one of the most important. The Company of the Iron Roads of Northern Spain (CCHNE), owned by the Pereire brothers, established its central station here. In 1861, temporary facilities were built in the place where the station was later built, on the occasion of the inauguration of the railway that ran from Madrid to Irun. This was the star project of these French businessmen, the Madrid-Irún line, designed to continue to Hendaye. Its great competitors were the Rothschilds, who promoted the construction of Atocha as the heart of its Railway Company from Madrid to Zaragoza and Alicante.

This story has some background, like all of them. In 1854 the government of espartero y Leopoldo O'Donell They convene Congress to create the General Railway Law, approved on June 3, 1855. One of the consequences of this law was that the Northern Line was divided into three sections:
1- Madrid to Valladolid via Ávila and Medina de Campo.
2- Valladolid to Burgos
3- Burgos to France through Miranda del Ebro.
This fact implied that to achieve the entire line, the concession for the three sections had to be obtained. In November 1855, the brothers Isaac and Emilie Péreire obtained the concession of the section from Valladolid to Burgos. In July 1856, the Spanish Furniture Credit Society, founded by the Péreire brothers, obtained the concession for the other two sections.
On December 29, 1858, the Compañía de los Caminos del Hierro del Norte de España was founded with a capital of 380 million reales. This is how the project was born.

The final station was inaugurated in 1882, once after the end of the Carlist wars, the line began to operate at full capacity, becoming one of the most prominent in the Northern network and also in Madrid. Trying not to be left behind in its competition with Atocha – which had already been declared Madrid's central station –, the CCHNE built a spectacular building. The engineers Biarez, Grasset and Ouliac, they created a central nave and covered the tracks with canopies like those of the great iron and glass works of Europe. In 1926 the head of the hall was added.

During the Spanish Civil War She was isolated in Madrid, received numerous artillery hits and played an important role in the War.

At the end of the war it was badly damaged and the bankruptcy of the Caminos de Hierro del Norte caused it to be integrated into RENFE. After the inauguration of the Chamartín Station, its decline began as rail traffic was transferred to the new station.

In 1993 it was finally closed, being rehabilitated as an interchange and a shopping center and took the name Principe Pio Station.

Today it is still a magical place and although we now get there on a commuter train or head towards the subway, there is a lot of history in this building.

A abrazo.