A fire that forces 90 passengers to evacuate on the Badajoz-Madrid route and causes them to wait more than two hours – literally in the middle of the field – for another convoy to transfer them (meanwhile, children and adults have to take shelter in the air conditioning of Civil Guard and Local Police vehicles because the heat squeezes hard). Three trains that suffer “technical breakdowns”, such as an engine breakdown, in just 24 hours and arrive more than two hours late in full operation leaving the bridge in August. And another one with almost three hours of delay the next day. Wagons without air conditioning, accumulated outrage from passengers and the fear that if you opt for this form of transport, the incident is assured. It is the balance of a summer of setbacks with the Extremaduran train.
Since mid-June, there have been around thirty breakdowns (some more serious, others milder, but all have caused disruption to passengers), which means an average of one mishap every three days. A reality that has caused the continuous denunciation of the citizens, who consider that the “third-world” situation of the railway has become increasingly unsustainable.
COMBAT POSITION / The Junta has also taken a combative stance, more knowing that it is a battle that manages to unite Extremadura. In fact, it has received criticism from the PP because, they say, they have turned the matter into a constant attack on the central government.
The truth is that this summer the community wanted to send a loud and clear message of complaint for the poor operation of this service.
In Renfe they assure that there are no official data on the incidents of the last months and point out that there are up to 30 daily circulations to argue that “it does not mean that all trains are going to have breakdowns.”
