Differences in rail return: new trains in Madrid versus delays in Rodalies

Rodalies users returning from vacation will encounter the same speed limitations and problems on the railway network that existed a month before. On the other hand, the return to the routine of Cercanías travelers in Madrid is accompanied by important developments, with new trains circulating through the Spanish capital.

This week the first two units from the Stadler factory in Albuixech debut on the C7 line, one of 100 meters and another of 200, both with double-decker carriages. They are convoys with more information screens and a 20% greater capacity, in addition to more doors without steps – which speeds up the loading and unloading of passengers – and spaces for people with reduced mobility, bicycles and children's strollers. Over the next few months, more trains will be added to the rest of the Cercanías core lines in Madrid until the order consisting of 79 new units is completed.

In Catalonia we will have to wait until the end of the year, in the best of cases. The new Rodalies trains are not from the same manufacturer, but from Alstom and, in this case, the deadlines have been delayed. The validation tests were affected by the Rodalies crisis at the beginning of the year and by some manufacturing defects that forced small changes to be made in the design of the trains, which has cost him some loud public reprimands from the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente.

Last May, with everything resolved, the manufacturing company delivered the approval dossier to the Spanish Railway Safety Agency (Aesf) and the first two trains prepared for circulation left the factory in June. In recent weeks, new units have begun to accumulate on the tracks of the Alstom plant in Vallès, from where they will have to leave by road, since the works on the R3 prevent the use of the rail connection.

The French manufacturer's commitment is to deliver before the end of the year the first 14 units of the order for 201 trains, of which 72 remain in Catalonia and the rest will go to the rest of Spain. New CAF trains for regional trains are also expected in the middle of next year.