Trains too wide to pass the tunnels: it is the railway and political fiasco which has shaken Spain for several weeks. A dimensional error detected before the construction of the trains, but which will still be expensive and which has caused resignations at the highest levels.
In Asturias and Cantabria, in northern Spain, the 31 new regional trains ordered to replace an aging fleet will ultimately not arrive this year. In question: a measurement error in the specifications which made the trains too wide to pass the many tunnels of these steep landscapes.
Miguel Ángel Revilla, president of Cantabria, learned of the fiasco in the press a few weeks ago. He does not hide his anger: While Europe asks us to strengthen the train – because the future is the train, not the car – well here we are living in this shameful situation. »
Two resignations and a political crisis
In addition to the railway fiasco, this error caused a political crisis: the Spanish government hid this error for more than two years from regional officials who demanded that heads roll. Monday, February 20, the number 2 of the Ministry of Transport and the president of Renfe, the Spanish railway company, both resigned. But for Revilla, the damage is already done: “ The contract in 2019 was 260 million euros, but I calculate that the cost of materials for these trains will have increased by at least 30% today. And the most serious thing is the damage done to citizens who will still have to wait at least two and a half years! »
On the platforms of the small stations of Asturias and Cantabria, the users of these regional trains even feel left behind, like Sara Polanco, a student: ” In Madrid or Barcelona for example, the trains are much better, they go faster too, whereas ours are old… »
No trains before 2026
Delays, regular breakdowns and line cancellations… Asturias has even lost 60% of its regional train users in 15 years. ” The usefulness of public rail transport is to arrive in a reasonable time at your destination, but here it does not happen ! We have roads where we can go at 100 or 120 km/h, and to go for example to a town less than 50 km from here, it takes 35 minutes by car, while by train, it takes 1h15. “, points out Julio Martínez García, one of these disappointed users.
Transport Minister Raquel Sánchez for her part reiterated her apologies to the presidents of the regions and granted them the extension of free transport on the lines concerned until the delivery of the trains, which they hope, in 2026.
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