Forced Relocations: How AVE Users Have Experienced the Railway Disconnection

The unprecedented and prolonged rail disconnection between Málaga and Madrid following the tragic accident on January 18 near the town of Adamuz in Córdoba (Renfe has implemented an alternative service with a bus link to bypass the cut-off area of the track) has disrupted the schedules of hundreds of users who have made this high-speed line their usual means of transport for their trips to the capital.

Shocked by a catastrophe that left 46 dead and aware that it could have been them (some traveled on the same day and others canceled their ticket on the doomed Iryo train at 6:40 PM at the last moment), entrepreneurs, university students, professionals from various sectors, and families have had to look for alternative plans to meet their professional and personal commitments.

Telecommuting, searching for alternative means (sometimes facing exorbitant rates), and canceling work appointments with their consequent economic cost have been some of the most immediate consequences that those who travel to Madrid weekly or several times a month for work or study have had to assume.

For all of them, this high-speed line translates into comfort (from the center of Málaga to the center of Madrid), freedom to carry luggage, and above all, time optimization by being able to work during the nearly three-hour journey. But they also agree that the strong vibrations, constant delays, and deterioration of the service were evident and wonder if with those "signals" this accident could have been avoided.

For the past 16 years, the AVE has been the invisible axis that supports the professional and personal life of Noelia Serrán. From Monday to Friday, she works in Madrid in the mortgage management sector of a financial entity, and every weekend she returns to Málaga, where she has her home and partner. "I have a hybrid life," she summarizes. A finely tuned balance that was shattered by the rail disconnection after the Adamuz accident.

Until Sunday, January 18, her routine was perfectly planned. "On Fridays, I took the train at noon and on Mondays, I returned to Madrid first thing in the morning. Always by AVE," she emphasizes. It was not just a matter of comfort: the train allowed her to work during the journey, hold meetings via Teams, and adjust the schedule without losing working hours. "The plane doesn't allow you that."

The interruption forced her to look for alternatives, and it has not been easy. The available flights do not match her schedules and, when they do, the price skyrockets. "The first ones I saw after the accident were around 450 euros." The Monday after the rail cut, she found no viable options during the day and ended up flying at night, "by pure chance," after discovering that Iberia had reinforced the route "without it being officially reported."

Noelia does not hide the "anguish" that initially generated by this difficulty in getting to her job. Although she has been able to telecommute exceptionally, her position requires presence. To adapt, she has had to alter her schedule: flying to Madrid on Monday night and returning to Málaga on Friday afternoon. Even, this past week she had to move her return to Thursday because plane tickets to Málaga from three in the afternoon on Friday were "extremely expensive."

In a moment of such uncertainty, planning becomes impossible. Despite having a date on the horizon for the restoration of the line (February 8, according to Minister Óscar Puente), Noelia does not dare to buy tickets a month in advance as she did until the day of the tragedy. This lack of certainties forces her to decide "on the fly," something incompatible with a routine sustained for years. "It's a nuisance when your job is so conditioned to this transport that, although it is a personal choice, it is a public service that you would never think you wouldn't have at your disposal."

The disconnection has reopened a debate that Noelia shares with other users: the progressive deterioration of the service. She too had noticed "loud noises and vibrations" on certain stretches, which she says, did not happen before. The same with the delays or the elimination of the punctuality commitment. "It used to be more expensive, but you had more guarantees."

Marcos Granda, a restaurateur and the driving force behind six restaurants with seven Michelin stars (including Skina in Marbella), has made the AVE his usual means of transport for professional activity between Málaga and Madrid over the last six years. On the fateful day of the accident, he traveled that stretch a few hours earlier, though he does not recall noticing anything unusual.

He does acknowledge having felt "vibrations" on other occasions, though he did not give them much importance. "I never really worried at all," he insists. However, the recent accident has changed his perspective. "Once this tragedy happens, you think: maybe it could have been avoided."

His trips to Madrid respond to an intense work dynamic. There are days when he goes and returns on the same day to be at a meal, an interview, or solve any problem at noon in Madrid and then return in the afternoon. Managing suppliers, job interviews, meetings with the press, and supervising the quality standards of his two restaurants in Madrid are part of a routine that directly depends on transportation.

Day trips, schedules measured to the minute, and an almost blind trust in a service that, for years, was synonymous with punctuality. However, this perception has clearly changed in the last year and a half. "I remember that at the beginning there were no delays. In the general tally of the year, it might be delayed 15 or 20 minutes once a year." For him, high-speed is "a safe and ideal way to optimize time." Arriving five minutes before the departure of the AVE in Málaga and appearing on time in the center of Madrid "was the norm." This reliability, he assures, has been fading. Delays are now joined by a sense of insecurity that did not exist before. A cocktail that, in his opinion, has turned what was once a competitive advantage into a recurring problem.

For now, the interruption of the service has not caused him immediate harm. "As long as the service is restored in the first week of February, I will not have a problem, but if it is delayed further, I would have to look for alternatives, probably the car," he assures, given the "nonsense" of prices that are being seen.

Beyond the specific episode, Marcos focuses on a fundamental debate: the liberalization of the rail service. For him, the equation is clear: "The more volume, the less control, the more instability in the service." And he sums it up bluntly: "It has not been an improvement, on the contrary, many more problems when it comes to being able to carry out my work." Punctuality, he concludes, was the essence of high-speed.

The 6:40 PM Iryo train had become a key piece in the weekly routine of the lawyer Manuel Huertas until the unfortunate accident in Adamuz. He used it to travel to Madrid regularly, arrive the night before, rest, and attend professional commitments early the next day. On Sunday, January 18, he did not take it. A last-minute change of plans forced him to cancel it. "The next day I had to attend to a detainee in Málaga and had to cancel the trip to Madrid. Fate."

The impact was even greater when he remembered that his partner had planned to travel to Madrid by AVE that same day to take part in an examination. "I encouraged her to come on my train." Eventually, when he canceled it, his partner decided to advance the trip. "I don't want to imagine what would have happened to us," he declares, dismayed.

Manuel travels to Madrid every week. He usually spends two or three days there and returns afterward. It's a dynamic he has maintained for years, initially sporadically, and for the last six to eight years, weekly. After the Adamuz accident, this routine has been broken. The rail disconnection and the lack of certainties about the normalization of the service have left him stranded and forced him to cancel professional commitments, including several collaborations on television programs. "Having to take a plane is a nuisance." This is compounded by costs and logistics: airports, transfers, and dead times that do not exist with the train.

For Manuel, the railway system in Spain is "chaotic" since the pandemic. He regrets that punctuality has become a "luxury of the first world" and the excellence and comfort of the service have degraded with frequent delays, jolts, unexpected stops, and a constant feeling of uncertainty. "It's like taking a stagecoach in the Wild West. You don't know when you leave or when you arrive." And he recounts his last and unfortunate experience a few weeks ago when he was returning from Madrid and, near Córdoba, the train stopped ten or twelve times.

Despite what happened, he assures he is not afraid to take the train again, but he does feel a certain insecurity. "Especially if no improvements or maintenance are made." He considers what happened in Adamuz to be "predictable," because the constant incidents made it seem that "everything was held together with pins." "And if not, why are they now reducing speed on some stretches?" He insists that this is not the solution to a service that was excellent, that worked like clockwork, and that allowed professional and personal life to be planned to the minute without the current uncertainty.

Guillermo Hurtado, a 19-year-old student from Málaga, lives halfway between Madrid and Málaga. Since September 2024, he resides in the capital, where he is pursuing a four-year University Degree in Animation at the European University, a career aimed at creating animated series and movies.

Although he is already in his second year, his bond with Málaga remains hard to break. He takes any opportunity to go down to his hometown. At least, he does it twice a month, even every weekend if the occasion arises, as happened last October. Family, friends, and a strong emotional attachment to his land pull him; Madrid does not convince him beyond the academic. This personal attachment is compounded by his commitments with the Brotherhood of Huerto, where he is a member of its Board of Governors. Meetings, gatherings, and activities of the brotherhood are another significant reason to maintain constant mobility between the two cities.

Until now, the train has always been his usual means of transport. Neither the plane, due to the prior waits at the airport and a higher cost, nor the bus, which takes more than six hours, are ideal alternatives for Guillermo, who seeks to make the most of the weekend in Málaga.

Thanks to the Más Renfe Joven card, which with an annual cost of 50 euros offers a fixed 30% discount, and to the advance purchase of tickets, he can make the journey "comfortably and affordably." But the recent interruption of the line following the tragic accident in Adamuz has disrupted his plans.

Guillermo had planned to come to Málaga this weekend, but after two cancellations since the accident and the delay in resuming the service after an initial announcement that it would open on February 2, he has been forced to resort to the plane to meet his postponed commitments on the 7th. "I found a flight for the 6th that was reasonably priced, 128 euros, which, together with the money they refunded me for the AVE tickets, turned out to be quite affordable," he assures.

Although he remains patient, he continues to follow with some concern the "shuffling of dates" regarding when normality will be restored. "The train has always been the most comfortable and economical for me," he insists. Meanwhile, like so many other students and frequent travelers, he hopes that the connection between Málaga and Madrid will be restored as soon as possible. Also, that it improves in terms of punctuality and comfort: "Sometimes it was impossible to move the mouse of the computer due to the strong jolting."