Spain has suffered another technical issue on its rail network, sparking hours-long delays on multiple high-speed routes.
An ‘incident’ caused a train to become stuck on the Madrid-Sevilla route at 12pm on Sunday, causing delays on seven other Renfe services between the capital and Andalucia.
The failure took place between La Sagra and Mora, in Toledo – the same region where copper wire was stolen from exactly a week ago, sparking national travel chaos.
One of the worst affected on Sunday was a Malaga bound train which was scheduled to arrive at 5.26pm.
According to Renfe, this train suffered a significant delay as a result of the temporary blockage on the track, although the exact delay time has not been specified.
Trains with the closest departure to the damaged AVE service were the most affected, with delays of up to more than two-and-a-half hours.
Other services, including several to Cadiz, Granada, Puertollano, and Madrid, suffered delays of between 15 and 20 minutes.
The incident also caused a large accumulation of passengers at Sevilla’s Santa Justa station during the afternoon, where there were moments of overcrowding and unrest.
The spokesperson for the Conservative Partido Popular (PP) in the Andalusian Parliament, Toni Martin, blasted the government on social media.
Writing to transport Minister Oscar Puente he said: ‘Let’s see who you blame today. It’s not sabotage, it’s incompetence: yours, Sanchez’s, and Montero’s.’
Renfe has assured that the incident has now been resolved and that traffic is returning to normal.
This latest incident comes just a week after nationwide chaos following the theft of 150 metres of copper wiring at five locations in the province of Toledo.
The incident, which severely affected both Sunday night and the following Monday, caused delays of several hours and the cancellation or modification of at least fifteen trains, affecting thousands of passengers.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente described the incident as ‘sabotage’ and warned of ‘major impacts’.
