Atocha railroad station postcard

Atocha Railway Station, Madrid, Spain The first railway station was built in 1851 but it was destroyed by a fire. The present-day building was opened in 1891. This building was transformed into tropical garden in 1992 and a new station building was erected. This is an integrated railway hub connecting AVE (high velocity trains), Cercanias (Commuter trains) and metro lines. Near the Atocha building five members of the trade unions and the Communist Party were murdered and four were injured in 1977 by Alianza Apostolica Anticomunista, an extreme-right wing terrorist organization. The train bombings of 11 March 2004 took place on the commuter trains arriving to the station. The terrorist attack of the Islamic extremist group killed 191 people.