The Madrid Cercanías network started the day with a major incident, which interrupted train traffic between Atocha and Chamartín through the two tunnels and between Atocha and Embajadores. A failure in the electrification system caused this interruption.
The breakdown occurred at 4 a.m., affecting the first trains of the day and the beginning of the rush hour. According to Adif sources consulted by Trenvista, the remote control of the disconnectors at the Atocha substation was lost.
As a result, all of them had to be closed manually, which required interrupting the electricity supply. These same sources indicate that the workers were able to access the disconnectors in diesel traction trains. However, some had to be reached on foot.
Finally, between 7:30 and 8:00 the service was gradually restored. First in the Sol tunnel (7:28), then in the Embajadores tunnel (7:45) and finally in the Recoletos tunnel (8:00).
To mitigate the effects of this disruption, Metro de Madrid reinforced the service on lines 1 and 3, while trains from Alcalá and Guadalajara were diverted to the outlying track (Fuente de la Mora).
This incident adds to the dozens of service interruptions that users of Cercanías Madrid have to suffer every month. The Atocha substation itself has been the protagonist of some of the most recent ones, although this is the one that has had the greatest impact.
In issue 4 of Trenvista we analyse what is happening to the Madrid Cercanías, which is not a problem of investment or of Minister Óscar Puente wanting to make life impossible for the people of Madrid.
The sum of incidents is causing a great distrust in users and a great loss of reputation of the service. Trenvista urges to reinforce the maintenance of the current systems, especially at critical points such as bottlenecks in the network.
