No high-speed trains between Barcelona and Madrid from 8pm onwards.

BarcelonaProblems are piling up on the high-speed rail line between Madrid and Barcelona. Adif, the infrastructure manager, which has been working for days to correct all the defects in the train network, has asked all operators serving this line to cancel the last trains of the day to allow more time for on-site work. In practical terms, this means that starting this Monday, there will be no high-speed service between Barcelona and Madrid after 8:00 p.m. This situation will only affect this corridor, and the Ministry of Transport has not yet specified how long it will last. Renfe, Iryo, and Ouigo have already canceled the last trains of the day because, with all the speed limits that had been established for safetyHigh-speed train journeys are so long that the last trains of the day occupy part of the nighttime maintenance slot. While there is no commercial service, workers thoroughly inspect and repair the infrastructure, and sources at Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure manager) indicate that there is not enough time to carry out the "adequate" checks. Renfe, which operates the AVE high-speed train service, has explained that it is canceling the journeys that departed from Madrid (Atocha station) at 8:27 p.m. and 9:07 p.m. and arrived at Sants station at midnight. Trains departing from Barcelona (Sants) at 9:05 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. and arriving at Atocha station shortly before midnight have also been canceled. "Automatic rebookings have been made for passengers affected by these cancellations," the company explained.

The company reports that they will be offering double-unit trains to ensure seat availability. "Renfe is informing customers of their new train, carriage, and seat, resulting from the automatic relocation process. They will also be offered the option to make changes or cancellations free of charge if the proposed alternative does not meet their needs," they explain.

Ouigo, for its part, has explained that, given the temporary speed restrictions on the Madrid-Barcelona line and in coordination with Adif, it has suspended the 6:25 a.m. train from Barcelona and the 9:02 p.m. train from Madrid since last Thursday. The Italian company Iryo, which also operates on the Madrid-Barcelona corridor, reports that last week it already decided "to cancel the last services between Madrid and Barcelona to guarantee turnaround times and service," so Adif's request today does not alter its plans.

25% more time to review

Renfe spokesperson Antonio Carmona explained that the maintenance window for high-speed lines is normally six hours, and by suspending the last trains of the day, they are extending the time dedicated to infrastructure inspection and improvement by 25%. He also emphasized that all passengers with tickets have been informed of the change and are being rebooked on other trains. Carmona maintained that the ultimate goal of this decision is to improve service. Last week, journey times and schedules for high-speed trains on the Barcelona-Madrid line were severely disrupted after a crack was detected in the track near l'Espluga de Francolí, in Tarragona. This forced the speed to be limited to 80 km/h on some sections, whereas high-speed trains normally reach speeds of 300 km/h. The incident, which occurred last Friday, added to the snow accumulation on the Meseta plateau due to the storm and the chaos caused on the commuter rail network by the failure of the rail traffic control center earlier last week. All of this has stretched the Barcelona-Madrid (and vice versa) high-speed rail journey to five or six hours.

Commuter rail service has not yet returned to normal

Meanwhile, commuter rail service continues to operate at half capacity. The government had promised a return to "normal" service this Monday, but that didn't materialize either. Conventional train service began the week with "mobility on all lines," but also with several bus services—to cover the sections still closed—and over a hundred speed restrictions for safety reasons. The fact is that Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure manager) personnel are still working at 31 points across the network, spread across all lines, and cannot guarantee that service will be back to normal this Monday. The points under review are different from those of last week, because some have already been cleared, but others have been added.

Early this morning, Renfe's spokesperson in Catalonia, Antonio Carmona, appeared before the media again: "We want to provide certainty," Carmona said, "and the first certainty is that mobility is guaranteed, whether by train or road. The second is that we continue working, Renfe and Adif," he insisted. The most positive news is that Cercanías (commuter rail) has resumed train service on the R11 line between Figueres and Portbou. However, lines R1, RG1, R3, R4, R7, R8, RL4, R13, R14, R15, and RT1 still have some sections with alternative road transport. The Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, has assured that her department will maintain "all available resources" to address the "unprecedented" crisis facing Cercanías. During a conference at the Ministry of Public Works, Paneque acknowledged that these are "difficult days for mobility" for both passengers and freight, but promised that the Government is focused on resolving the problem. "We are aware of Adif's extraordinary effort to ensure the safety of the networks," she added.

The commissioner for the transfer of commuter rail services, Pere Macias, went a step further, stating that Adif is doing "extremely intense work" and admitting that "it has probably been slightly overwhelmed." Speaking to the ACN news agency, Macias explained that initially there was a "limited number of points to inspect" which "have multiplied." "We expected things to be better, but new issues have arisen and they must be inspected; there's no way around it," he asserted. Regarding freight traffic, Macias anticipates that Adif will carry out work in the Rubí tunnel and that "sometime during the week" it may be "partially or not fully reopened."