Travel misery for rail users is set to continue in Andalucia as the vital Malaga-Madrid route is once again blocked.
It comes after yet another retaining wall collapsed on the tracks near Alora on Wednesday morning, even before the worst of Storm Leonardo.
The collapsed embankment has completely blocked the line and there is no clear timeline of when normal schedules will return – with Renfe only able to guarantee services between Madrid and Cordoba.
The fallen embankment is reported to measure at least five metres and covers all tracks after damaging the overhead power lines between Alora and Gobantes.
Miguel Montenegro, secretary general of the CGT union in Andalucia, warned that technical staff believe the disruption could last up to a week.
Montenegro acknowledged that rainfall has been ‘unusual’, but argued that proper monitoring and maintenance should prevent failures of this scale.
He criticised what he described as a lack of specialised staff overseeing the network, saying maintenance has been left largely to contractors and subcontractors.
‘If mortar starts to crack, that’s a clear warning sign,’ he said, adding that new infrastructure without long-term maintenance inevitably leads to incidents like this.
With heavy rain continuing and repair crews still assessing the damage, there is no indication that high-speed trains will return to Malaga in the coming days.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
