Chaos for travellers on high-speed trains between Madrid and Barcelona after thief makes off with track cables

TRAINS on the high speed AVE route between Madrid and Barcelona and on to the coastal town of Figueres were suspended on Monday morning after thieves stole fibre optic cables from the tracks.

The suspension caused chaos for hundreds of passengers travelling on the popular route as Renfe scrambled to resume services. 

Se encuentra suspendida la circulación por ambas vías por una incidencia en la infraestructura desde L’Arboç hasta Figueres-Vilafant de la Línea de AV Madrid Pta. Atocha – Figueres-Vilafant (Ancho Estándar).

— INFOAdif (@InfoAdif) August 8, 2022

Madrid’s Atocha station and Sants station in Barcelona filled with long queues of frustrated travellers.

One man complained, “Please we need someone to come and provide us with information, we don’t have any information”.

Que alguien salga a dar información en la estación de Atocha! ESTAMOS DESINFORMADOS!!

— D&£G0-XI (@DCaixo) August 8, 2022

The state rail operator said trains should be back on track from 12 noon on Monday and has offered those affected either a full refund or the option to rebook for a later train.

?Això afecta tots els AVE amb origen o destí Barcelona i/o Madrid. Per tant, els trens no surten encara que tècnicament es pugui arribar a Saragossa o Tarragona.

?Tots els trens estan suspesos, i a Atocha, van acumulant-se passatgers de diferents franges amb destí Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/dtnFnieaBP

— Iván Gutiérrez (@ivanngutierrez) August 8, 2022

Officers from the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalan police force, arrested a19-year old man in connection with the theft which occurred during the night on Sunday.

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