Entering the page where Adif collects information from high speed arrivals and outings serves to immerse yourself in the Infinite yellow of incidents. At the time of writing these lines, almost 11:00 am on Tuesday, September 16, each and every one of the trains with arrival in Madrid today have a possible delay warning.
Someone has stolen a cable in the ADIF facilities near Córdoba. It is only the tip of the iceberg of an infrastructure that is suffering numerous delays in recent months.
40 minutes. They are not such, as we have learned in Xataka From the hand of one of its journalists who traveled in one of the birds that Córdoba connected with Madrid. Despite Adif’s notices that were discussed of an expected delay of between 10 and 40 minutes in the Andalusian line to Córdoba, the truth is that in this case it has lasted more than an hour.
The reason has been a Cable theft between Córdoba and Guadajoz. The incidence was confirmed at the edge of 8:00 am and three hours later It was supposed to be. The problem is evidently the trains that has caused this breakdown that forces us to delay the usual paths for several hours.
The last case. Today, Tuesday, September 16, it is just another case of cable robberies that Adif is suffering in recent months, with special incidence in the Andalusian corridor. Last May More than 16,000 passengers were thrown away for the theft of cable at various points of the line. This time, the bulk of the subtractions took place in the passage of the line through Toledo.
Just a few days later, also the same month of Maythe section that connects Palencia with Catabria was also affected by a robbery of cables. Last June, Another robbery also caused delays in Catalonia. On that occasion, as in Madrid last Julythose affected were nearby users.
A problem. Already in May, the president of Renfe, Álvaro Fernández de Heredia, left a phrase nothing optimistic in a Interview with Antena 3: “They cannot be monitored 24 hours 15,000 kilometers of network, but more means will have to be put.” Then, in Xataka We already wondered if it was so easy to steal in the train network.
In 2015cable theft provided a group of thieves a booty that was valued at more than 800.00 euros. In 2022, another robbery also left some 135,000 euros in the pockets of another group of thieves. But in the case of the theft of Andalusian cable last May, the action was distributed by up to five points. And, despite this, According to the Government Delegationcopper had barely won worth 300 euros.
So? Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport, said that robbery as “A serious sabotage act”. A few months later, the idea of sabotage slipped again from the government. This time was the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, to which An open microphone “caught” saying that the delays in the bird could be due to these supposed sabotages.
On that occasion it coincided with Another of the chaotic days That Renfe and the rest of the operators have lived in the Spanish high -speed lines and, specifically, in La Andaluza. That time, a breakdown on an Ouigo train caused the chain stop of the rest of the trains. One of them, from Renfe, overheated and burned his electrical systems. As a result, More than 200 passengers spent the night Within one of those trains.
In the same sense, those who pointed out that they pointed out that The real culprit of his fault was of Adifwhose facilities caused the problem. On the other hand, from the Popular Party they already pointed out months before (coinciding with the theft of May) that the maintenance of the network was inefficient or insufficient, ensuring that they would ask “An audit of the entire network”.
The tip of the iceberg. Worst of all, Spain has entered a maelstrom of delays and cancellations in Spanish high speed trains as not remembered. This morning’s cable theft is only the last case of a summer that already closes with other cancellations due to infrastructure problems, trains that crack and Fire affectations that, according to Minister Óscar Puente, could have been avoided.
What the summer is demonstrating is that, for some reasons or for others, the ADIF infrastructure needs more investments or is being oversized. The bridge itself indicated a few weeks ago that the volume of trains in recent years He has shot but in ELECONOMIST They also pointed out that the investment has not gone hand in hand with such growth.
Photo | Dariusz Sieczkowski and Xataka
In Xataka | This megameter that joins Europe with a high -speed train sounds good. The problem is too good to be real
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings