The theft of some 150 metres of cable from the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line through the province of Toledo and the subsequent failure of the electrification caused havoc for some 16,000 Iryo, Ouigo and Renfe passengers yesterday and today.
There have been discrepancies between the official information and that provided by the affected operator.
As we reported in yesterday’s news story, the problems began at 17:45 when the cable was detected being removed at up to five points on the line in the municipalities of Los Yébenes and Manzaneque (Toledo).
Although Adif AV managed to re-establish circulation on one of the tracks, a second incident complicated matters further. According to Adif and the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, there was a pantograph entanglement nearby La Sagra when an iryo train was running.
A pantograph entanglement is a complex incident that occurs when the train’s pantograph rubbing device does not interact well with the contact wire of the catenary, causing it to break. Consequently, the section on which the train is located is de-energised.
However, the operator denies that this happened and indicates that the catenary voltage went out when the train stopped. Due to the cable theft, only that track was being used.
In a statement, the company controlled by Trenitalia maintains that:
The train was stopped and registered a lack of voltage on the line. At 21:30h, an iryo train was stopped at La Sagra due to the theft of cables, which caused traffic to slow down. Before resuming, a lack of voltage was detected in the catenary, which meant that the train had to remain at a standstill. At 2 a.m. the rescue train arrived, which took the passengers to Malaga. The catenary was repaired this morning.
Adif sources consulted by Trenvista assure that the information provided by the Minister is correct and that the snagging did take place.
However, it is still too early to know why this second incident took place and, of course, to ask for responsibilities. There are many causes, from the poor condition of the catenary to the poor condition of the pantograph.
Adif has opened investigations to clarify what happened, both with the theft of the cable and the catenary. At Trenvista, we will be awaiting the outcome of these investigations and will report back as soon as possible.
In the meantime, we urge caution before assuming events that may not be true.