More than 10,700 passengers and 30 trains affected by a copper theft in Madrid.
There are also problems on six commuter lines.
BarcelonaSabotage on the Madrid rail network and a breakdown have been complicating travel between Barcelona and Madrid since last night. Renfe asked Madrid AVE passengers this morning to avoid arriving at Atocha station until 8:00 a.m. due to train delays caused by the incident that occurred this Sunday on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. A copper cable theft has affected at least 10,700 passengers and delayed around thirty trains.
"Due to the number of trains affected and to avoid crowding at Madrid Puerta de Atocha, passengers on trains departing to Toledo, Puertollano, and Andalusia before 8:00 a.m. are asked not to arrive at the station until this time," InfoRenfe and Adif reported on X de madrugada.
The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, stated that everything points to the breakdown being the result of a deliberate act of sabotage. Puente explained in two interviews on Cadena SER and Onda Cero that whoever committed the theft "knew what they were doing," because they did it on a section where there are no cameras and which is also a crucial section for traffic during the return from the May Day holidays. He also stated that the value of the stolen cable was not very high—about €1,000, he explained—and that, on the contrary, it has caused great harm to thousands of commuters.
The minister explained that it involved 150 meters of copper cable, in both directions and within a 10-kilometer radius within the province of Toledo. Its purpose was to power the track's security systems, and the theft forced train speeds to be reduced to just 40 kilometers per hour.
For his part, the president of the Spanish operator, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, also explained early in the morning that, apart from the cable theft from the Madrid-Seville high-speed line in the province of Toledo, another incident also occurred yesterday that added to the chaos: the "hook-up". The cable was pulled onto the overhead line and damaged it.
Problems in Cercanías
Trains on the Catalonia commuter rail lines R2 Sur, R14, R15, R16, R17, and RT2 are running with delays that may exceed 30 minutes due to an incident at the Vilanova i la Geltrú station. According to Renfe, Adif technicians are working to resolve the problem.
