The school year begins, with the return to the normal rhythm of life and a cut in the service of the C-5 line of the Madrid Cercanías.
Since January, Renfe has increased the frequency of the service from 6:30 to 8:30, with one train running every 4 minutes, as a result of the construction of the urban section of the A-5 dual carriageway. From today, although the interval has been extended to 9:30, it is now 7 minutes. That’s a cut of the 43% of the number of trains.
Although the start time is pushed forward to 13:00, there is a change from one train every 6 minutes to one every 8 minutes during the midday rush hour, which runs from 13:30 to 15:30.
In the evening, the line switches from one train every 6 minutes between 18:30 and 20:30 to one every 8 minutes between 18:00 and 21:00. Both in this rush hour and at midday, the cut is 25%.
For the rest of the day, the interval is kept at 10 minutes.
The reduction started this weekend
The new timetables for the C-5 came into force this weekend. As several users of the line warned, the frequency has gone from one train every 10 minutes to one train every 15 minutes. That is 33% fewer trains.
Despite queries made to Renfe and Cercanías Madrid via social networks, the operator has not commented on an unusual situation: the most used line of Cercanías Madrid has fewer trains at the beginning of the school year than during August.
Trenvista has made a formal enquiry to which we hope to receive a response later today.
The closure of line 6 of the Madrid metro has been added.
If the cut in the C-5 service of the Madrid Cercanías is going to wreak havoc on the people of Madrid, the start of the new school year also brings with it the closure of the eastern arc of line 6 of the metro.
This Saturday, the Community of Madrid closed the Moncloa-Legazpi section via Avenida de América of the busiest line due to renovation works and future driverless automation on the line.
Although the section between Moncloa and Méndez Álvaro via Príncipe Pío has been reopened, the one that has been interrupted is the one with the highest demand and feeds areas that depend heavily on the metro, such as Ciudad Universitaria.
While there is a replacement bus service, it is insufficient to replace the capacity of a metro line. And many mobility experts question the decision to close this section from September to December.
The new trains are not expected to arrive until 2027, and in Paris, a network with experience in fully automating old lines, there are no such long cuts. The works are longer, but they are less disruptive to those who need to use the line.