The Madrid–Levante high-speed corridor (serving Valencia, Alicante and Murcia) suffered a total service suspension this Monday morning between 09:45 and 11:15. According to infrastructure manager Adif, the shutdown was triggered by “the presence of a person in the vicinity of the track” near the Atocha–Chamartín tunnel, part of the LAV 040 Madrid–Valencia line.
The stoppage affected all three operators running services on the corridor: Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo. As a result, several trains were brought to a standstill halfway through their journeys, with hundreds of passengers stranded on board. Rumours of a possible fatal accident in the area spread on social media, though Adif never confirmed this at any point.
Amid mounting complaints from passengers, Renfe issued an explanation on X shortly before 11:00: “Services on the Madrid–Levante line are currently suspended in order to prevent a more serious incident, due to the presence of a person on the track. At this time, we have no estimate for when services will resume. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”
Barely fifteen minutes later, the operator announced that traffic had resumed. However, due to the accumulated delays, a full return to normal service continued to be rolled out throughout the rest of the day.