The comments from the Minister of State for Transport emphasized a stronger deployment of maintenance teams to support a smoother railway operation. Speaking in Mérida during a meeting with the Minister of Mobility, Transport and Housing, Isabel Pardo de Vera addressed the train disruption in Extremadura. Pardo de Vera, who travels along the Extremaduran corridors, explained that Adif faced an initial backlog during the early phase of the disruption and acknowledged that, because the commissioning was carried out privately, more personnel should have been on site while some track sections were still under construction. When complications involved the contractor, the gaps in coverage became more apparent.
To resolve the situation, authorities decided to monitor the line closely and to strengthen the maintenance timetable after acceptable programs were established over the past four days. The minister stressed that the issues were limited and that opportunities for improvement had been provided, underscoring the goal of reliable operation going forward. Attribution: Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana; ADIF communications; Renfe announcements.
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On the infrastructure front, on-site supervision for rails and the operation of steering drives by contractors were included in the duties of the Adif maintenance brigades, which were doubled to ensure continuous oversight. Regarding the trains, it was clarified that the delays were not caused by heat or gradient issues as initially suspected. Pardo de Vera noted that the Galician route, a single-track line, has steeper slopes than previously assumed, but this would not be the sole cause of the problem. In any case, the delays were largely attributed to external factors rather than technical faults.
An example cited involved the Madrid Atocha to Cercanías services, where two minutes were deemed insufficient for passengers to disembark. That timeframe was described as overly optimistic given the high demand for the service. The route adjustment to merge into Mérida was also noted as challenging to synchronize with precise timing. The minister emphasized that some travel-time adjustments would be necessary, reiterating that these changes were not tied to technical issues and would be clarified later.
For similar reasons, the 50 percent fare reduction announced by Renfe would apply only to the Alvia and Intercity routes experiencing delays beyond 15 minutes. Pardo de Vera also noted that compensation policies elsewhere in the country come into play only when delays exceed 70 minutes for Alvia and 60 minutes for Intercity trains.
In summary, authorities are boosting supervision, adjusting schedules to reflect real conditions, and targeting compensation to routes that experience meaningful disruptions. The overarching aim is to restore reliable service while keeping a strong emphasis on safety and punctuality across the system. Attribution: Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana; ADIF communications; Renfe announcements.