In his report on the X-Net, Transport Minister Óscar Puente denounced an “act of serious sabotage on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line,” manifested by the theft of four cables from the line’s security system in the province of Toledo. “The impact on the trains that are supposed to remain in service will be serious. As of the end of today, we have barely two hours to repair the damage. The Guardia Civil is already investigating the incident,” the minister emphasized, describing the incident as “very serious.”
The theft of copper cables at four locations in the province of Toledo, which Adif classified as a “serious act of sabotage,” has caused delays on long-distance, high-speed, and Avant trains since Sunday afternoon. A total of approximately 6,300 passengers on 18 trains have been affected.
Sources from the railway infrastructure manager Adif told EFE that the theft was discovered at 5:45 p.m. A total of around 300 meters of copper cable was discovered to have been stolen at four different points on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line within a ten-kilometer radius.
The trains between Madrid and Seville and between Seville and Madrid are particularly badly affected, as they cannot travel at their usual speeds. Other trains are stopped and waiting for service to resume.
For example, the AVLO, which left Madrid at 6:35 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Málaga at 9:48 p.m., is delayed by 65 minutes; the AVANT from Madrid (7:10 p.m.) to Puertollano (8:32 p.m.) is delayed by 73 minutes.
The AVE from Murcia (3:32 p.m.) to Málaga (10:26 p.m.) is also affected and is delayed by 52 minutes. The AVE from Seville (4:53 p.m.) to Valencia (9:30 p.m.) is 110 minutes late, and the ALVIA from Huelva (4:05 p.m.) to Madrid (8:13 p.m.) is 91 minutes late.
The AVANT trains from Puertollano (7:05 p.m.) to Madrid (8:27 p.m.), the AVE from Madrid (7:00 p.m.) to Seville (9:37 p.m.), the AVE from Seville (5:46 p.m.) to Madrid (8:40 p.m.), and the ALVIA from Cádiz (4:15 p.m.) to Madrid (8:55 p.m.) are also affected.
Renfe subsequently announced that service between Yeles and La Sagra was suspended from 10:00 p.m. The trains stopped are the AVE from Seville (4:30 p.m.) to Madrid (7:14 p.m.) and the AVANT from Toledo (9:30 p.m.) to Madrid (10:04 p.m.).
ADIF has clarified that the delays are due to the incident in the track circuits caused by the theft of cables in the section between Mora and Orgaz.
Furthermore, four different points have been located nearby where these cable thefts occurred. ADIF security patrols, together with the Guardia Civil, are documenting this incident in order to file the necessary complaint.
