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The announcement was made in the autumn, and it was initially feared that disruption to air travel would occur over the New Year, and that one of the world's largest tourism trade fairs, FITUR, would be affected.
But authorities allayed these fears the following day, saying a bus replacement service would run between the station Nuevos Ministerios and the Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport terminals 1 to 4.
Regional president Cristina Cifuentes also said the outer suburban train lines, or Cercanías, to Barajas T4 would increase in frequency, and that no works would start until after FITUR, which is held at the huge IFEMA exhibition centre and attracts travel operators and tourist boards from countries on every continent.
The track along the whole of Line 8 will be replaced with a much more modern version using the latest safety technology, including improved braking systems and passenger comfort due to bumps and vibrations being dramatically reduced, maintenance made easier and trains able to travel at a higher speed without compromising security.
Drainage and platform surfaces will be replaced, leaks repaired, and the evacuation tunnels between the stations Mar de Cristal and Campo de las Naciones will be renovated.
Builders and engineers will work in three eight-hour shifts a day over the full 24 hours to speed up the job's completion.
Line 8 is the fastest on the whole of Madrid's metro network – which is one of the most modern and comfortable in Europe – with trains running at 105 kilometres per hour.
It transports an average of 45,000 passengers a day, and enough buses and extra Cercanías C1 line trains will run to absorb a much higher number as a precaution.
The SE2 bus service will cover the stretch between Mar de Cristal and Barajas T2; the SE3 will run between the stations Colombia and Pinar del Rey, and the SE4 covers the journey from Mar de Cristal to Barajas T4, the Line 8 terminus.
They will run between 06.00 and 01.30, or 19-and-a-half hours a day, in the same way as the metro.
Line 4 metro services, which cover some of the Line 8 stations, will run more often.
Airport staff have been kept updated and told to advise passengers on alternative transfer options, and the city council is due to launch an advertising campaign to ensure commuters and tourists are aware in plenty of time what they should do to get around the area normally covered by Line 8.
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