The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, highlighted this Friday that the worst damage in the railway network caused by DANA It is present on the Cercanía network and did not want to give a fixed deadline for the resumption of the service, as stated this Friday in separate interviews on TVE and RNE.
“The biggest problem is nearby“, warned Puente. He said three lines “disappeared”. In C-3, on a 90 kilometer route, 45 of them are “devastated” and practically the entire line will have to be rebuilt, according to the minister. Something similar happens in C-1 and C-2, while C-5 and C-6 “are already operational.”
The minister said alternative transport plans would be made nearby, but at the moment “we cannot even consider” this option, by road, because it is not operational. The minister took the opportunity to urge people not to travel because they need the roads open in case of emergency.
High speed
Regarding high speed, he said he hopes that the line between Madrid and Valencia will be fully operational in less than two weeks.
Puente explained that on this line 1.2 kilometers of track need to be replaced and that yesterday Thursday they had the “good news” of being able to access the Torrent tunnel, “completely flooded”, in which they verified that the damage was no They are relevant. He also stressed that the work is focused on the reconstruction of the Chiva tunnel track, which, along with the Torrent tunnel, is the most affected.
It is “very likely” that this Puente de Todos los Santos will break the record for high-speed travelers in Spain and more than 100,000 tickets have been sold for the line between Madrid and Valencia alone, according to the minister, who added that this is “the “less” now.
Roads closed
Regarding the roads, Puente indicated that there are 80 kilometers damaged throughout the national network, the A-7 is closed and work has already started. “We cannot go any faster, this Thursday we allowed 13 million people to carry out work on the A-7,” underlined the minister. In this case, a temporary solution will be given, as specified, so that it lasts at least 10 or 12 days. The A-3 is “heavily damaged” but open for emergencies.
In the case of the N-322 and the N-330, we learned that this Friday 12.2 million were authorized for works, thus totaling 25 million for the roads. The V-30 is operational and the V-31 is also open, but with “many vehicles accumulated.”
Competitive battle
In addition to transport problems, there are also families who do not have access to water. The minister said that “it will take time” until the supply network is normalized and, in the meantime, alternative channels such as tankers are activated.
Today, the Ministers of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, join the team that coordinates this crisis with the Generalitat Valenciana.
When asked if the central government was considering taking control of the management of this crisis, Puente replied that Spain is decentralized, with “clear” powers and that “the only thing” the government is thinking about is “the collaboration with the Generalitat Valenciana”. “Things are done better together,” he added.
