The first week in the high festive season led to new problems in the railway network, which for the injured passengers turned the trip between Seville and Madrid, which was supposed to last less than three hours, in Odyssey, which lasted almost 12. Most of this time, at night, in the middle of the heat. The sector speaks of specific incidents, even if they influence and produce headaches, but travelers have an idea that the problems of railway workers are more and more common.
A month ago, a mistake in Chamartin interrupted the circulation, which Madrid joins Mursia and the Valencian community; And a few days ago, another technical problem at the Camp -de Tarragon station caused a bird delay between Madrid and Barcelona. There are other incidents that do not respond to technical problems, such as the theft of the cable in Toledo in early May, who affected more than 6,000 people, which the Minister of Transport Oscar Puente called Sabotage and what two people led to the arrest of this Friday.
The situation of railway networks, problems and incidents, months ago, and also has become a political factor in confrontation. In fact, just a year ago, óSCAR Puente, held two performances -in the Senate and in the congress of deputies to analyze what happened to the trains. Then he already talked about the “short -term” problems on the network, which, in case of high speed, passed a few years later to work exclusively with Renfe; To add four different companies spreading on the same highest roads. On the one hand, Renfa and Avlo, the “low cost” of the Spanish public company. On the other hand, the entry into Spain IIO (with the Italian capital) and WIGO (subsidiary of the French state -owned company SNCF Voyageurs).
As for the network, they doubt whether it had the necessary investments to cope with this liberalization in the operations that Brussels required. In Spain, there are more than 15,000 kilometers, of which more than 4,000 are high speed, and more than 6,000 trains work daily in the network assembly, sources in the sector indicate. “Since 2019, we have increased the high -speed network by more than 500 kilometers,” Puent told one of the above performances. This is a “complex and complex network for management, where there is a width and international Iberian width, which adds complexity and problems with control, as well as a network in which 2000 kilometers are not suitable,” he added.
Until next year, two state -owned companies, Adif and Renfe, predicted investments of 30,000 million euros, as we have in this issue. Nevertheless, they are numbers that since they are predicted until users of the railway network see them, they will spend time to materialize. As for specific numbers, ADIF is considered for the current five -year period (between 2022 and 2026), which reach 24,000 million euros. Of these, 9000 correspond to this year and what comes. Meanwhile, Renfa adds more than 5.2 billion, which should be used, for example, to update trains, such as close and rodi.
As for how the role of the operation in recent years, WIGO began to spread in 2021; And Iro, a year later. Both began on the route that connects Barcelona and Madrid, and then entered the corridors, which connect the center of the peninsula with Valencia and Alikante. The latter are those that grow most compared to 2019. The last one is a year before the pandemic, and although there were no private operators, it was a record tourism. In the following schedule, there is an increase in various corridors, with data published by the National Market Commission and Competition (CNMC).
And in the following graphics it was found that the corridor between Madrid and Alikante is the one that has grown most in recent years. In each case, the date of entry into the activity of AVLO, OUIGO and IRYO is indicated. CNMC data are reflected until March, so in early May they do not turn on the shutdown of the end of April or theft of the cable.
In 2019, global railway traffic (including both ordinary and high -speed network) was about 200 million km/train, depending on how Adif. “After stopping Covid, the experience of movement held growth and is 208 million km/train in 2024,” the company added. In the case of a high level of movement, it developed from 52 million km/trains registered in 2019 to 75 million last year, which is 46%rebound. “For its part, a small decrease is observed on a regular network, from 149 to 132 million km/trains from 2019 to 2024,” the above sources clarify.
In a high -speed network, where several operators are currently circulating, the incidents index have also recovered. In 2019, 347 were recorded for a million km, says the network manager. Meanwhile, in 2024, this parameter amounted to 375. That is, 8%increased.
Adif also beat that from January to May 2025, incidents were similar to the incidents of the previous five months. “Although in these first months you must calculate two exceptional facts”, such as the frequency of robbery of the cable on May 4 in Toledo and the disconnection of the shutdown on April 28.
Collision between companies
What happened in recent days is important because the ADIF operators and the trains have charged with who is responsible for the incident, that on the night of Sunday, June 30, left a high -speed railway axis between Madrid and Andalusia. “From the analysis of the data and images of the point where the frequency was registered, Adif came to the conclusion that the lack of stress was caused by breakdown from the confluence of the constant chain,” the state company explains. “A few seconds before this fact, the WIGO train lost the check when the signal systems stopped on the road,” he adds. “This caused up to four trains on a seven -kilometer segment to stay on this train.”
“All trains of the detainees continued to apply for voltage in target contact in space and very specific points to provide their travelers” in order to save the air conditioner ”, suggests that Adif. And “one of these four trains arrested, the advanced (from Renfe) was those who registered the molten structure“ structure ”.
Renf “rejected” that “one of his trains caused incidence.” “The Avang service 8190 was affected by the previous abnormal situation motivated by the arrest of another train at a critical infrastructure point and the exceptional accumulation of trains in this section,” sources from the state operator explain. “Renfa recalls that the circulation of his services has always been adjusted with the conditions established by the network administrator.” He also noted that “with an adventure 8190 there was no hook of the contact part, since the train was parked during incidence.” “It will be necessary to wait to find out the conclusions of ongoing research in order to accurately determine what happened.”
And the subsidiary of the French company also refused its responsibility. “The fact that Ouigo trains for a moment stops on the road, usually on the network, with a demonstrated ability to restore circulation. This cannot be used as the alleged reason for the voltage in targeted activity, ”says the son of a French state operator. “The infrastructure should usually consider these types of situations. It would be similar to attributing responsibility for how to load the road for stuck cars, something frequent and familiar. ” “Consequently, it is wrong to attribute these facts as a reason for a technical stop for several minutes on the road.”
In addition, WIGO quotes the Alstom report, the manufacturer of his trains and is responsible for maintenance. This indicates that, according to the documentation provided by the WIGO, the “TGV2N2 3UF+LZB units that worked” on June 30 “In the Madrid-Seville and Madrid-Malag line, no anomaly was found that can justify any damage to the infrastructure”.
The last company that says, Alst. The manufacturer defended the reliability of his trains, as well as that in Spain there are much fewer incidents than in other markets. Here, the number of problems in the Spanish network is “funny,” he said in statements in the media, compared with the number of tyration every day by all operators. A few months ago, Oscar Puente indicated in the Congress of Deputies an analysis published by the European Federation of Transport and the Environment, which gathered that Renfa was the second largest operator in Europe, immediately behind the Swiss. As a link, the German company DB recognized, in accordance with 2024, that only one third of its long trains arrived in time at its destination.
Adiph “open” problems
In addition to punctuality and planned investments, ADIF admits that he has problems in managing the network. The company itself has developed a call card and has several open solutions for solutions.
Among them, for example, how to avoid the sabotage of their infrastructure or theft of copper. Therefore, this analysis includes problems related to infrastructure safety, such as the need to “predict and discover threats of safety and health in the operation of the railway”, “external phenomena on the infrastructure”. In addition, “develop a system for observing hot zones and points in railway cars that transport dangerous goods” and “introduce cases of using artificial intelligence in the safety apparatus of the railway system”.
On this map, the problems that Adif) remains open in this 2025, there are other factors related to its own activities and maintenance. Among them, it includes an automatically verification of “automatically or innovative means”, the introduction of “blockchain technology in processes that require information safety” or “introduction of new systems for observing state supervision in calling”. It also covers other points, for example, related to how to introduce 5G or how to optimize the circulation of trains by neutral separation of electric phases, breakdown.
