"It's a shame about the AVE. It used to work well." The reflection that a Barcelona taxi driver makes to this medium summarizes the general feeling of Spanish train users in the last year and contrasts with the popular vision that the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, already shared in 2024 in the Senate: "The train in Spain is experiencing the best moment in its history, with record after record of travelers." The truth is that high speed lost around 1.22 million travelers in the second quarter of 2026, after the accident in Adamuz (Córdoba), according to the latest data from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMC).
And yesterday at the Sants station in Barcelona, the postcard was that of hundreds of travelers facing "total chaos." Users gathered in the corridors after the traffic between Madrid and Barcelona was delayed from the early hours of a working Tuesday by the accident last Monday near Ricla (Zaragoza), when a fire broke out in the locomotive of an AVE that was traveling in the direction of Figueres (Girona) and the journeys between both capitals were interrupted... in the return operation for the national holiday on October 12.
Among social media messages, travelers lamented the absence of "a service that once worked."
Because yesterday - and predictably today - the incidents continued: the delays extended to all the operators because the trains circulated on a single track with a temporary speed limitation of 80 kilometers per hour (the usual average is around 300 kilometers per hour) and a speed evaluated by the drivers themselves (in the jargon of the sector, speed in sight) in certain sections between Barcelona and Madrid, while the infrastructure repair work continued.
"Six hours to get from Madrid to Barcelona. Thanks Renfe," said a user in Catalan. The usual duration, even with the delays implied by the map of incidents along the road, does not exceed three hours.
Another traveler tells this medium that, when looking for air alternatives for her work trip to Barcelona yesterday, prices had skyrocketed in the hours before the start of the day. On his AVE trip back to Madrid he noticed chaos among the passengers ("the seats are duplicated") in addition to several hours of delay in departure.
And it should be noted that the Madrid-Barcelona route was not the most affected route: Navarra and La Rioja saw their AVE routes suppressed and their travelers were pushed to regional trains. A service that also suffers from neglect - and investment deficit - at the national level. Specifically, in recent months the Spanish railway network has been dotted with incidents (which translate into temporary speed limits, or LTV) that in recent months leave a system on the verge of a very progressive recovery, but which is in turn shaken by failures in the rolling stock itself, such as the crisis of the bogies of the Talgo S-106 models on the different routes between Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, or the incidents with the new trains of the Madrid Cercanías network, the Stadler brand 453 models.
Although the situation is entrenched in the Catalan railway axis. In addition to the incidents due to "bad condition" or "damage to the tracks" that Adif's programming for train drivers records weekly, different testimonies have expressed to this medium over the last few months the boredom caused by the continuous incidents in the Rodalies network: delays, service cuts, lack of information and the inability - recognized by the Government itself - to opt for alternative transport due to the lack of capacity (Rodalies moves 400,000 daily users).
The last (major) incident was the refusal of the drivers themselves to drive, just a week ago, due to the insecurity aroused by the state of the Catalan roads after the last episode of torrential rains and their demand for safety certificates. Because, it should be noted, 2026 leaves two serious railway accidents, one of them in Rodalies, after a wall fell onto the tracks and the train that passed later crashed into it, costing the life of the driver in Gelida. This accident was preceded days before by the tragic high-speed accident in Adamuz (Córdoba) (46 fatalities).
Since then, safety has been more than questioned by train workers. And the delays, more than reported by travelers. Dignitat a Les Vies, one of the most demanding platforms, denounces that tardiness is common and wreaks havoc on daily life in the region.
However, the present chaos on the railways - be it High Speed, Medium Distance or Cercanías - is still a reflection of the poor state of public services recognized by the Generalitat of Catalonia, at the regional level, and by the Ministry of Transport, at the national level. On both occasions, an accumulated deficit in investments for infrastructure is visible, which has led to neglect of the roads, and which is especially relevant in the current political context of the pre-election campaign, where it is presented as a threat to the popularity of the Catalan (PSC) and Spanish (PSOE) governments, responsible for the railway network in the recently concluded legislature. And despite the agreements between the Ministry of Transport, Adif and Renfe with the train drivers to appease the January protests and increase investment in infrastructure, with paths to progressive improvement, months later, discontent continues to take its toll.
Without normality on the roads until further notice
The Government of Catalonia warned yesterday that there will be delays of 15 minutes on average in the "next few days" on high speed.
Renfe, which does not give a date for the return to normality on the line or for the removal of the burned train due to its technical complexity, will maintain the same measures as yesterday: circulation on a single track and in double composition, although the "progressive improvement" of conditions will allow some services to be recovered in single composition.
For their part, operators such as Iryo, which yesterday reported between 15 and 30 minutes of average delay in their journeys, some up to two hours, announced the suppression of four services for today. Specifically, in the Madrid-Barcelona direction, the Iryo 6081 with departure at 08:22 hours, whose passengers have been relocated to services 6091 and 6281, and the Iryo 6161, with departure at 16:37 hours, whose passengers have been relocated to services 6151 and 6171. In the reverse direction (from Barcelona to the national capital), the Iryo 6320, departing at 12:14 p.m., whose passengers have been relocated to services 6130 and 6014, and Iryo 6190, departing at 18:53 p.m., in which case passengers have been relocated to service 6200.
