The engineer did not arrive and there was no authorized substitute. They had to travel in a regional – “It is inexcusable that there was not a reserve person,” the unions complain – The Alvia was not the only incident on Tuesday: The Seville-Madrid train also carried passengers in the corridors
Renfe dismisses two managers of the Madrid-Extremadura line for the incident that occurred on the Alvia this past tuesdayfestive and end of the bridge of All Saints, which made the train will arrive in Badajoz 53 minutes late. She should have left the capital of Spain at 4:38 p.m. but the driver who had to drive the convoy did not show up for personal reasons and they did not find anyone else available with the required training to make the journey on this train they call fast. The decision was then made to transfer the passengers to a medium-distance regional train, which could be driven by the engineer who was in reserve. All this led to the train arriving almost an hour late at its destination and several of the passengers traveling standing or sitting in the aisles. There was not room for everyone because this other convoy has a lower occupancy than the Alvia.After the internal investigation carried out, the company assures that what happened was due to a “concatenation of errors in the assignment of driving staff graphics”. The report confirms, add the same sources, that a substitute driver had not been assigned for the Madrid-Badajoz route and that, furthermore, the professional who was available did not have the necessary authorization to drive the 730 series train, with which the Alvia service is provided. “This accumulation of errors, at a time of maximum commitment of Renfe with Estremadurain which the entire organization has been prepared to give top priority to the service provided to citizens in that autonomous community, explains the dismissals”, they affirm from Renfe. Specifically, the president of the company, Isaías Táboas, has dismissed those responsible for Public Service (Media Distancia) and Commercial Services (Alvia and Intercity).
“The leadership of Renfe has to be responsible for organizational problems”
Renfe’s decision has not completely convinced the Junta de Extremadura. His spokesman, Juan Antonio Gonzálezhas asked for more forcefulness. “What cannot be is that every two times three there are dismissals of middle managers. The leadership of Renfe has to be responsible for the organizational problems that exist. This does not have to be repeated”has said.
The incident has reached the Congress of Deputies this Wednesday, where the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, has announced this morning in an appearance the conduct of this internal investigation to purge responsibilities. And in Extremadura, the Minister of Mobility, Transport and Housing, Leire Iglesias, has pointed directly to the president of Renfe: “Either it is known today who is responsible for what happened or the highest authority in Renfe, its president, will be the one who has the responsibility , and that translates into resignations or dismissals,” he warned.
political reactions
For its part, the president of the Junta de Extremadura, William Fernandez Varahas called what happened “shameless”. “The answer to this new shamelessness is very simple. The resignation of the person in charge!” He wrote last night on social networks. also spoke César Serrano, deputy in Congress for the province of Cáceres, where he acts as spokesperson for Transport and Mobility and manages the problems of the train. And that he was also traveling on the train. “What happened to the Alvia bound for Extremadura is not reasonable. Extremadurans deserve decent services and this only increases the feeling of neglect”He said through his Twitter profile.
“The answer to this shamelessness is very simple. The resignation of the person in charge”
The president of PP in Extremadura, Maria Guardiolahas qualified this Wednesday of “Real shame that there are no political responsibilities for the train of shame” and has criticized that the president of Extremadura “blames the train driver instead of asking for political responsibilities”. From Citizensthe deputy Encarnación Martín has asserted that the region continues to be “the national shame” in railway matters. “We are the laughingstock of Spain”, has said. Y Joaquín Macías, from United for Extremadura, has described the management of personnel as “calamitous” and has stressed that what happened reflects that “we continue to be the national shame.”
“It is a shame that there is no political responsibility for the train of shame”
Political forces have not been the only ones who have criticized what happened. Also the unions. “It is inexcusable that there was not a reserve driver for Extremadura”, affirmed the person in charge of the railway sector of the CCOO in Extremadura, Miguel Fuentes, who does not explain what happened. According to him, he argues, to direct the trains two qualifications are needed: To be authorized to drive the train in question, in this case the Alvia, and to know the route, in this case the Extremadura track. But the substitute who appeared in the quadrant did know the route but was not prepared to drive an Alvia, so it was necessary to change the convoy.
What is not explained is that there was only one in reserve because there are usually several. The quadrants are prepared by the heads of each base, in this case the one in Madrid, which is the one in charge of managing the Alvia: “In Extremadura there are 30 trains running every day and there are three train drivers. It is not understandable that they do not have one with training, it is as if in a hospital there is a substitute doctor who is not a doctor”, criticizes Miguel Fuentes.
“We are the national shame in railway matters, the laughingstock of Spain”
After what happened, Renfe chose to transfer passengers to a regional train of medium distance, so that the substitute machinist could drive it, since for this he did have the required training. But another problem arose: The lack of space. And it is that the Alvia has 260 seats, of which 214 were sold for that journey. But the one that was enabled only had room for 185, so about thirty had to travel standing or sitting in the corridors. Renfe gave them the possibility of making the journey by road with a taxi, but only “some” accepted it. The rest traveled without a seat, despite the fact that the Renfe regulations expressly prohibit going on trains without being seated; it is only allowed in the Cercanías.
“The train should not have left with people without a seat because there is a serious safety risk, if the train brakes, the passenger could be thrown and hit another or anything. It is inexcusable that people came in those conditions, they don’t take Extremadura seriously”, Fuentes insists. Renfe will return the full money of the tickets and apologizes to those affected.
“The management is dire. We continue to be the national shame”
The Alvia was not the only incident that occurred this past Tuesday on a train in the region. The one that left Seville in the morning bound for Madrid and made stops in Extremadura also had passengers without seats. It is denounced by the mother of one of the passengers who rode in Mérida. She purchased the ticket online but did not have a seat number. She reported this to the conductor, who allowed her to sit in any of the free seats. Instead, they were occupied at the following stops, so she and other travelers had to make the journey standing or sitting in the aisles. “She arrived at Atocha and no one gave them an explanation, we are going to report it,” complains her mother. This newspaper asked Renfe about this other incident, but received no response.