Rail traffic from Ourense -Long and Medium Distance- will be affected until next Tuesday, August 29 to finish the implementation of ERTMS on the Atlantic Axis. Thus, Galicia will obtain the European security system. The first phase of this project was carried out in April, at which time the relevant works on the tracks were carried out. Now, this second phase aims to train the drivers in this new safety system and carry out the corresponding tests to verify that everything works well.
The objective is for train travel on Galician roads to achieve greater safety for avoid accidents like the Angrois curve, a tragedy that occurred 10 years ago, leaving 80 dead and around 145 injured. In fact, if the tracks and trains had the ERTMS system from the beginning, this altercation, for which numerous victims and relatives are still awaiting a judicial response, would probably not have happened.
So that passengers can also travel between Ourense and Santiago and not lose their tickets in the middle of summer, Renfe has enabled a alternative road transport on buses. In this way, until the 29th the route between Ourense and Santiago using Avant will suffer an increase in travel time when it is made, while the Alvia trains will also suffer modifications to the schedules. To achieve this alternative plan, Renfe had to tender a contract through an open procedure with an investment of 260,000 euros. A budget that is added to the 63.2 million euros that it cost Adif to implement the ERTMS security system and which also includes the maintenance of the facilities for a period of 20 years.
Yesterday was the first day of train cuts and suspension. A very intense day for the workers, as they had to organize all users and transfer them to the bus station so that they could reach their destination by road. They also controlled those who arrived to refer them to the Long Distance connections that depart from the intermodal station. In small groups, employees moved tirelessly between train and bus stations, appealing to passengers so that no one was left stranded. A routine that they will have to repeat and perfect until next week.
Very different opinions
For their part, passengers had different opinions. Some didn’t care about these service changes at all. Carmen, was one of them. She was traveling yesterday morning to A Coruña and took the journey calmly. “It’s like I got on the train, but instead of taking an hour, it took a little more than two,” she said minutes before the bus left. “I preferred the train because it is more comfortable and faster, but I have adapted. If we have to establish cuts, we can’t do anything,” said Felipe upon his arrival in Ourense from A Coruña.
However, others were angry and upset with Renfe. This was the case of Eva, since she had to arrive in Barcelona with two elderly people, aged 82 and 87, with disabilities, and she complained about the little information that the passengers received from the company. “What seems fatal to me is that they did not warn us that the road was closed and that we had to travel by bus. We found out at the Santiago station itself when we arrived,” she protested before taking the train to Madrid. Added to this was a problem: with the schedule changes caused by the cuts, they would not arrive in time to take the Chamartin-Sants link. “I no longer know what time we are going to arrive in Barcelona because in Madrid they have to organize another train for us because we don’t arrive in time to take the link,” she highlighted.
Sandra, for her part, also recognized the limited information received by Renfe. “They did not warn us that the departure time was early and we had stressful moments because we had to arrive from A Coruña on time to catch the AVE to Madrid here,” he confessed, already in Ourense.
For those customers for whom the new travel conditions do not fit their needs, Renfe offers the possibility of canceling or changing Your tickets are free of charge, since with the alternative road plan it is not allowed to bring bicycles or pets.
Twenty Avant frequencies and many other long distance frequencies affected
In total, there will be 20 AVANT Medium Distance frequencies and another 20 Long Distance frequencies between the Galician cities and Madrid, and also between and to Barcelona that will be affected by the suspension of trains. In it internal corridor from Ourense to A Coruña All Media Distancia frequencies will be affected, although the section between A Coruña and Santiago, in both directions, will be done by train. Exceptionally, passengers on the first daily service between A Coruña and Ourense will travel the entire route by road, whose departure is brought forward at 4:00 a.m. to allow travelers to connect with the AVE that leaves for Madrid at 6:30 a.m.; as well as the Avant that leaves Ourense at 10:58 p.m. to Santiago and A Coruña.
With respect to Long Distance services, users who leave from Ferrol towards Madrid, since they will go from the city of Ferrol to A Coruña by coach and there they will complete the trip by train along the conventional route of O Carballiño. The same will happen with those who leave from Madrid to Ferrol. However, the Alvia at 7:35 p.m. leaving A Coruña for Madrid and the one leaving Madrid for A Coruña at 2:30 p.m. will be by road between Ourense and Santiago and Ourense and A Coruña.
On the other hand, Long Distance services with destination Vigo Urzáiz, will be diverted by the Miño railway line, heading to Guillarei to Vigo Guixar, and from this station to Pontevedra and Vilagarcía the journey will be made by bus, just as in the opposite direction. The train that leaves Madrid at 7:15 p.m. to Vigo Urzáiz or the one that leaves Vigo Urzáiz at 9:20 a.m. to Madrid, both passing through Santiago, will complete the trip from the Galician capital to Ourense by bus and vice versa. Those from Barcelona to A Coruña, and vice versa, will also be affected, completing trips by bus between Monforte and A Coruña, between Monforte and Santiago and between Ourense and A Coruña, also in the opposite direction.
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