Delays and cancellations have change into the norm for prepare passengers in Spain. Is widening its rail community accountable?
“It is like this virtually day by day,” laments Paola, who’s ready for her prepare to go to Barcelona for work. It’s already one hour and 45 minutes late. She nonetheless doesn’t know when she’s going to be capable of go away Madrid.
“This can be a large drawback. It’s okay when you might have occasional delays, however when it turns into the norm, we now have to ask ourselves questions.”
Like her, many Spaniards share each day on social media their mishaps and anger concerning the chaotic prepare state of affairs throughout the nation.
On the finish of October, an overturned prepare and a passenger in a prohibited space blocked almost 15,000 passengers within the two essential prepare stations in Madrid.
Lately, issues of all types have skyrocketed all through the railway community.
Delays, breakdowns, crowds in stations, copper thefts that go away trains with out service, trains stopped in tunnels, and passengers caught for hours with out water or electrical energy often make the European headlines.
“A very powerful drawback, additional than cancellations or delays, is that the standard of the service provided by the operators has deteriorated,” explains Jorge Morera from the Public Transport Promotion Affiliation, a Spanish organisation that defends sustainable mobility by way of public transport.
“There are main capability points at stations, and there may be poor administration of disruption, which now impacts passengers each day, much more on native and regional networks.”
Spanish nationwide firm Renfe recorded the best variety of delays in its historical past final yr, each with its AVE high-speed providers and medium-distance trains, in keeping with an organization report.
Renfe claimed many causes, together with the rising demand for rail, quite a few enchancment works throughout the railway community, and points associated to competing corporations.
Spain’s trains have extra competitors, however at what value?
Spain has a singular prepare state of affairs in Europe, as three completely different prepare corporations function high-speed providers.
Renfe misplaced its monopoly in 2021, and since then, it’s been pitted in opposition to the French state prepare firm Ouigo España, and Iryo, which is partly owned by Italy’s Trenitalia rail agency.
In response to this elevated competitors, Renfe launched its personal low-cost, Renfe Avlo.
“We now have extra trains and higher costs, which is sweet, however there are another issues that aren’t good for passengers,” says Morera. “Renfe has modified its insurance policies and lowered the compensation for disruption since this new state of affairs. This isn’t excellent news for passengers.”
Renfe not gives refunds of the total ticket value for delays of solely half-hour. As an alternative, it compensates 50 per cent for delays of 1 hour and 100 per cent for delays past 90 minutes.
The drop in costs and the opening as much as competitors led to an enormous enhance in site visitors and passengers.
Prepare travellers set a historic report in Spain final yr, exceeding 665.2 million passengers, a 20 per cent enhance in comparison with 2019, in keeping with knowledge from the Spanish nationwide statistics institute (INE).
“I believe the key phrase is rising pains,” stated Juan Montero, a professor of administrative legislation and financial regulation on the Nationwide Distance Schooling College (UNED) in Madrid.
“The transformation that was launched by liberalisation has been a very massive success for customers”, he says.
“The variety of trains operating within the community and the variety of passengers have dramatically elevated. Some corridors even double. However the system nonetheless has some hassle adapting to it. Issues are, in some methods, the results of success,” provides Montero.
The Spanish rail community should modernise and increase
Confronted with elevated site visitors and a scarcity of funding in the course of the monetary disaster, a number of tasks are underway on the rail community, such because the transformation of the Charmartin prepare station in Madrid.
One aim is to double the capability of high-speed rail and attain a complete of 25 prepare tracks.
The venture is scheduled to be accomplished in June 2026. Finally, it might enhance passenger numbers as much as 55 million in 2030 – up from 36 million in 2023.
However till then, the station has precipitated delays for each commuter and medium- and long-distance strains.
The growth of the Barcelona Sants station faces related challenges.
The arrival of latest trains manufactured by the nationwide firm Talgo additionally has a share of accountability after the community needed to wait greater than two years for supply.
“These new trains precipitated some troubles. They have been late to ship it, and evidently they rushed the contract a bit to furnish these trains 100 per cent able to run,” says Juan Montero.
Renfe has blamed the producer for the incidents and breakdowns of its new trains and is now claiming hundreds of thousands in damages.
Spain additionally must modernise its signalling system, notably on the oldest Madrid-Sevilla line: “It’s an especially costly and time-consuming operation,” provides Montero.
What’s the way forward for Spain’s railway community?
Will the Spanish rail state of affairs enhance in the long run? It is arduous to say, particularly for the reason that nation’s three low-cost prepare operators are nonetheless increasing their actions. Rival providers overlaying Andalusia are on account of be launched subsequent month.
“It’s true that delays are getting worse in Spain, however it’s extra on a particular interval. And if we examine it to different EU international locations, it is approach much less,” says Montero. “In France, for instance, it’s not an occasion, it’s a continuing”.
“Spain was nicely related with many international locations with evening trains earlier than,” provides Morera, “however for the reason that coronavirus, these trains have decreased, and lots of connections to Spain with France and different international locations have disappeared.”
Morera hopes that efforts may also be made to think about travellers’ wants, together with extra intermobility and cross-border connections. That’s when the chief of Europe’s rail renaissance will really shuttle into the long run.