There will be no direct trains between Malaga and Madrid – nor to Zaragoza, Barcelona or Cordoba – until at least March 23, it has been confirmed.
According to internal memo from rail infrastructure manager Adif, direct services will not resume ‘before’ that date, leaving the door open to even further delays.
The timing could not be worse, given that Easter travel begins in earnest on Viernes de Dolores (March 27), just four days after the earliest possible reopening date.
Tourism experts already warned of estimated losses of €109million between January and March – a figure that could top €300million if Semana Santa plans are cancelled en masse.
The alarm bells rang after private operators Iryo and Ouigo began cancelling services and refunding tickets.
Both companies insist the decision is not theirs, pointing instead to infrastructure problems after a landslide near Alora forced the line to close.
Passengers who booked with Ouigo for travel before March 23 are already receiving messages offering date changes or full refunds, citing ‘force majeure’. Iryo has confirmed the same. For now, all services to and from Malaga remain cancelled.
Renfe is maintaining 14 daily services (seven each way), but these require passengers to travel by bus between Malaga and Santa Ana before continuing by train – and vice versa on the return (adding hours to the journey).
Before the disruptions, Malaga and Madrid were connected by up to 26 high-speed services daily.
The line has been hit by a string of setbacks since the Adamuz (Cordoba) rail disaster in January that claimed 46 lives.
The most serious is the Alora landslide, where unstable, waterlogged terrain continues to delay repairs. The line there remains completely closed.
Engineers are working to stabilise the slope, but soaked, expansive clay soil is making progress painfully slow.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
