One death, several lines cut at the end of the day and one derailment which affected the high speed. This Saturday was a dark day on the Spanish rail network which, only in Madrid, caused delays and problems for a large part of its users.
The situation, according to the opposition, is “unsustainable” and this is why it asked the Congress of Deputies for disapproval of the ultimate manager of this service: the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, who despite the chaos experienced has not commented on the situation.
To the cuts in the Cercanías lines and the continued derailments in the medium-distance service in regions like Extremadura or Galicia To this was added, this Saturday, the total chaos resulting from an accident inside the high-speed tunnel which connects Atocha with Chamartín.
The construction of the tunnel which connects the two stations for this type of train is relatively new, but everything seems to indicate that it was a human error which caused the medium-distance train to derail halfway through the tunnel, while it was running at height. of the Botanical garden.
There were no serious injuries (he was traveling without passengers), but medium and long distance users were affected. All trains to eastern Spain, which now depart from Chamartínthey had to change the start of the route towards Puerta de Atocha.
The solution proposed by their management companies was simple: go down the Cercanías Network in Atocha. A connection that can be made from a multitude of lines, but which is not entirely beneficial if the passenger is on time, as it takes more than twenty minutes.
The chaos increased because, for all those travelers arriving in Atocha when their “real” stop was Chamartin, Added to them is the suspension of several lines.
On this occasion, it was not a technical error, but rather a man who was on the footbridge of one of the tracks and threatened to commit suicide. The Atocha service activated the protocol and, after several hours, was able to restore traffic without having to report any injuries.
This did not prevent passengers from complaining about the lack of electricity in the carriages located near the station. “We continue on the path, now no light or ventilation“, “We’ve been in the dark and locked up for an hour, and people are getting very nervous,” said several users of the social network X.
On social media, several travelers can also be seen gathering at Atocha station, where they even sang and danced together to kill boredom.
The day on the Madrid railway also had one fatality. In this case it was on the tourist train Arganda del Rey. An “unfortunate accident” which cost the life of Rafael, a volunteer on this train which constitutes one of the tourist attractions of the city.
It all happened during the morning journey when, while boarding the train, the worker fell and was hit by the train. Although it is not a locomotive that moves at high speed, the A 57-year-old man died instantly.
Other incidents
The incidents of this Saturday are added to a large list of incidents that have occurred on the national railway route since the former mayor of Valladolid took office more than a year ago. The most notable, without a doubt, were the delays at the Chamartín station, which has been in a construction situation for some time now.
Already in July, as EL ESPAÑOL reported, there were multiple delays in convoys traveling on the high-speed route between Madrid And Valence–Alicante.
Since the beginning of the incident, the hall and high-speed platforms of the Madrid station have been filled with passengers until there was no more room, causing chaos not only inside of the establishment, but also in its surroundings.
All this caused great emotion and despair among the travelers, who complained of the high temperatures they enduredthe crowds and the lack of information.
In August, similar situations occurred again. On August 5, an incident on a train caused the interruption of high-speed rail service for two hours and 20 minutes. Once again, travelers gathered at the station itself and places near it.
According to Telemadrid, passengers on a train coming from Valencia “broke” the windows of the convoy because it was without light or air conditioning near the Chamartín tunnel.
People who had to travel on high-speed trains had to wait the entrance to the hall to Adif staff, megaphone in hand, announcing the arrival of trains once service has been restored and authorizing access after presentation of tickets for the announced train.
This same situation was repeated on August 20. On this occasion, an incident that affected the electrification of the station caused delays in high-speed trains to and from Chamartín. The outage left high-speed tracks 19, 20 and 21 without service.
The delays also affected Galicia. There, the Government delegate, Pierre Blancoblamed the delays AVE in Galicia what he described as a “perfect storm”, made up of infrastructure renewal works, the arrival of new rolling stock (Avril) and a demand never seen before. However, the Regional Executive does not share this version.
“I read the minister in a low voice while dozens of people take a train to Ourense an hour late. We leave and after half an hour standing on a bridge we return to Ourense due to a breakdown. And without further information It is the usual tendency: to add and continue “Very good, Minister”, explained the Galician president that same week. Alfonso Rueda, after being arrested in an avenue.
Due to these circumstances, the Popular Party proposed to disapprove Óscar Puente. This took place with the support of Vox and three parliamentary allies of the government: MRC, Together And Can. The PSOE, Sumar, Bildu and the PNV spoke out against this disapproval, while the Canarian Coalition, the UPN and the BNG chose to abstain.
In addition to Puente’s rejection, the Lower House also urged the government to develop an extraordinary shock plan with the necessary resources to alleviate “rail chaos” in the short and medium term, which includes a timetable, provincialized measures and their cost. .
It is also requested to “immediately” develop an emergency care plan for passengers in the event of extraordinary incidents occurring both at stations and on railway routes, including response times from the moment of incident.
A beautiful demonstration
Finally, the Congress urges the Ministry of Transport to send the above-mentioned plans to the parliamentary groups in Congress within one month and the Minister to appear at an extraordinary session of the Transport Commission to present and debate these plans.
Many of these problems are occurring in Madrid, where the Popular Party is preparing a major demonstration. Right now, what popular mayors are doing is denouncing the situation on their social networks with each major outage. Sometimes, in the presence of a member of the regional board, such as the secretary Alfonso Serrano.
The one in Madrid, the capital, should be the largest demonstration of all those called by the region’s inhabitants, but not the only one. The PP does not want to give dates and is wary of how and when it will summon citizens. Its intention is not to be a manifestation of “parties” but of “users” who, day after day, experience the “deficient state” of the Cercanías network.
