Spanish rail meltdown: timetables not updated?

[mrmartin]

Currently on the classic line between Málaga and Seville which is pretty painfully slow as timetabled. Decided to do it as it was only 30-45 mins more than the coach and the line is scenic.

However, turns out we are running an hour or so behind schedule so far, with dozens of extreme speed restrictions, lot of them I'm seeing are down from 120-140 to 5-20km/h.

Given this I cannot see how it's possible we would have hit the existing timetable.

Fwiw Trainline/renfe was also offering me non existent tickets from Málaga to Seville on the high speed line (got there today to find all the high speed trains bus replaced).

Seems like a total shambles tbh. What's going on exactly? I wasn't aware the classic network was also completely broken.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Currently on the classic line between Málaga and Seville which is pretty painfully slow as timetabled. Decided to do it as it was only 30-45 mins more than the coach and the line is scenic.

However, turns out we are running an hour or so behind schedule so far, with dozens of extreme speed restrictions, lot of them I'm seeing are down from 120-140 to 5-20km/h.

Given this I cannot see how it's possible we would have hit the existing timetable.

Fwiw Trainline/renfe was also offering me non existent tickets from Málaga to Seville on the high speed line (got there today to find all the high speed trains bus replaced).

Seems like a total shambles tbh. What's going on exactly? I wasn't aware the classic network was also completely broken.

Andalucía was badly hit by storms earlier in the year with 'Leonardo' being particularly violent at the beginning of February - extreme rainfall, landslides, tornadoes, you name it. Inevitably the infrastructure was badly affected and it is taking a while to recover.

The high speed line between Antequera S.A. and Málaga is closed due to a landslide - a large retaining wall is having to be dug out and completely replaced. There are some standard-gauge AVE sets trapped in Málaga - unfortunately there aren't any spare variable-gauge sets available that could run a service via the classic main line.

 

[mrmartin]

I'm on the MD service if that makes it more clear?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2026 ==

Ok, found this map which shows all the track defects. It's absolutely horrendous https://limitacions.vatard.com/ca/map. Never seen anything like it in my life.

 

[30907]

So how long did the journey take in the end?

Surprising that RENFE are showing normal times over the HSL, though it was reported that planned reopening was today. Normally their planner has notifications about buses, though you have to read the small print

 

[mrmartin]

So how long did the journey take in the end?

Surprising that RENFE are showing normal times over the HSL, though it was reported that planned reopening was today. Normally their planner has notifications about buses, though you have to read the small print

Close to 5 hours on the MD line (meant to be 3h20). Utterly painful, many 0km/h TSRs (some at 5km/h), think we managed to hit "real" line speed 160km/h approx twice for a few mins before slowing right down again.

Just annoying that they were selling all tickets as "normal". I'd have definitely taken the coach instead, which would have been cheaper and twice as fast!

 

[30907]

Close to 5 hours on the MD line (meant to be 3h20). Utterly painful, many 0km/h TSRs (some at 5km/h), think we managed to hit "real" line speed 160km/h approx twice for a few mins before slowing right down again.

Just annoying that they were selling all tickets as "normal". I'd have definitely taken the coach instead, which would have been cheaper and twice as fast!

Ouch! There ought to be route-specific warnings, not just the generic one on the planner homepage, which certainly doesn't suggest delays of that sort.

BTW various sources say that the HSL reopened yesterday as planned .

 

[AdamWW]

I'm on the MD service if that makes it more clear?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2026 ==

Ok, found this map which shows all the track defects. It's absolutely horrendous https://limitacions.vatard.com/ca/map. Never seen anything like it in my life.

I suspect a similar map of the UK post-Hatfield would have looked horrifying.

Is this a similar reaction to the broken rail accident?

 

[mrmartin]

I suspect a similar map of the UK post-Hatfield would have looked horrifying.

If you click through it's not all track defects, also stuff like broken retaining walls etc. what's surprising is the number of serious problems on very new infrastructure (eg the Madrid tunnel which opened fairly recently) being limited to 50km/h against a design speed of 300km/h.

From what I have read it's quite a scandal. Basically ADIF (Spanish Network Rail) have "lost control" to some degree of subcontractors who have been falsifying inspection reports.

This has now meant the train drivers unions are refusing to "ignore" any substandard track conditions so I suspect they have put very conservative limits in place to avoid mass strikes.

If anyone has any more/better sources of what has gone on please let me know, I think this is quite an interesting story that has got very little coverage.

 

[EnriqueEspaña]

The railways certainly aren't doing very well in Spain recently, especially non HSR lines. For example, where I live in Valencia, on the main 1668mm line between Valencia and Xativa, there has been a speed restriction on the same bridge for at least 10 years that I can remember. The speed restriction seems to be about 40km/h, and I think line speed might be 160km/h. Meanwhile, parallel to the alignment lies a double track HSL that hasn't seen a train since construction. I also commute on Cercanías daily to work, quite common for the 40+ year old 'camel' DMUs to break down or even cause damage to the track, as the maintenance is to put it diplomatically...less than desirable...

 

[mrmartin]

The railways certainly aren't doing very well in Spain recently, especially non HSR lines. For example, where I live in Valencia, on the main 1668mm line between Valencia and Xativa, there has been a speed restriction on the same bridge for at least 10 years that I can remember. The speed restriction seems to be about 40km/h, and I think line speed might be 160km/h. Meanwhile, parallel to the alignment lies a double track HSL that hasn't seen a train since construction. I also commute on Cercanías daily to work, quite common for the 40+ year old 'camel' DMUs to break down or even cause damage to the track, as the maintenance is to put it diplomatically...less than desirable...

Yes it was hugely ironic/frustrating to be stuck on eg this speed restriction:


While staring out the window at the totally finished civils for the abandoned HSR project...

 

[Spouse]

If you click through it's not all track defects, also stuff like broken retaining walls etc. what's surprising is the number of serious problems on very new infrastructure (eg the Madrid tunnel which opened fairly recently) being limited to 50km/h against a design speed of 300km/h.

This is due to works on the creation of the underground AV station at Atocha. The link tunnel is also designed for 100kph not 300kph line speed. I use this line on a regular basis. The reason for the 50kph restriction is there is a section of single line working from where the building work is going on for the underground platforms.