Adif recovers this Thursday the direct high-speed rail connection between Madrid and Málaga, after repairing the damage caused by the intense and prolonged rains on February 4 at the height of the Málaga municipality of Álora, when a landslide and the collapse of a retaining wall occurred. Renfe, Iryo, and Ouigo thus resume direct high-speed train trips between Madrid and Andalusia this Thursday.
Traffic on the high-speed line that connects Málaga with Madrid and other Andalusian capitals is restored after 85 days interrupted before this May holiday and after an intervention “of great complexity and magnitude,” due to the volume of the landslide — more than 200,000 cubic meters of earth — and the terrain conditions, as well as the proximity of a high-voltage line.
Thus, after the collapse, the wall and its surroundings underwent a technical analysis which led to the need to remove much of the structure that remained standing, through a phased work plan to ensure the safety of operations, also smoothing the slope of the terrain. During the works, about 25 machines of various types and up to 75 people distributed in several work shifts covering 24 hours a day were mobilized, aiming to speed up the recovery of the infrastructure and rail service as soon as possible.
Renfe, first AVE
Renfe will be this Thursday, April 30, the first operator to offer a direct high-speed service between Málaga and Madrid. After Renfe’s first trip, Iryo and Ouigo will also resume this direct route. In this way, the three operators will resume service from the first moment Adif opens the line this Thursday.
Specifically, Renfe has reported in a statement that the first direct train of the day will be a Madrid-Málaga departing at 09:50 and arriving in the Málaga capital at 12:52. In the opposite direction, Renfe’s first service will depart Málaga at 12:00, arriving in Madrid at 14:58.
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The alternative transport plans through bus services implemented by Renfe to guarantee the continuity of the high-speed service in Málaga — including Avant services since the Álora cut — have recorded a total of more than 275,000 trips up to April 22.
According to the estimates made, and considering the maintenance of these arrangements until this Thursday, the total number of trips will exceed 300,000. This volume of trips includes both those made during the Alternative Transport Plan (PAT) on the Villanueva de Córdoba-Córdoba section, which allowed maintaining the operation of high-speed services between Madrid and Málaga from January 20 until the reopening of the service in Adamuz on February 17, as well as those corresponding to the PAT between Antequera and Málaga, which was launched on February 18 following the landslide recorded in Álora and has remained in operation until the reopening of the track.
Likewise, they have specified that the current infrastructure conditions, with sections where traffic is maintained on a single track, require adjusting the service schedule, modifying the timetables compared to those in effect before the track closure.
For its part, Iryo detailed that it will return with ten daily frequencies, distributed in five services per direction. Within this schedule, the transversal Barcelona-Málaga services are included, with two daily runs (1 outbound and 1 return). Iryo’s first frequencies this reopening Thursday will depart at 15:05 from Madrid and at 18:52 from Málaga. From May 1, operations will proceed according to the regular timetable schedule.