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High speed rail links between Madrid and several major cities in Andalucía remain suspended following the tragic derailment of two trains on Sunday afternoon in the Córdoba town of Adamuz. The disruption has affected services to Sevilla, Córdoba, Málaga and Huelva, leaving thousands of passengers scrambling to make alternative travel plans.

 

Adif, the state owned company responsible for Spain’s rail infrastructure, confirmed that services have been halted until further notice. Transport Minister Óscar Puente has said the line could reopen on February 2, although no official restart date has yet been confirmed.

 

Work is currently focused on removing the damaged trains from the tracks. Once that process is complete, Adif will assess the condition of the infrastructure and deploy the technical teams needed to restore normal service.

 

However, rail authorities have warned that this stage will take time and are advising passengers to keep checking official channels and the Network Status section of Adif’s website for updates.

 

Renfe has announced that it is putting an extraordinary Alternative Transport Plan in place from Tuesday January 20 for passengers who urgently need to travel. As part of that effort, medium distance services on the Madrid-Extremadura-Sevilla route have been reinforced to help absorb some of the demand.

 

According to Adif, more than 200 trains were affected by the suspension on Monday alone. With high speed services out of action, many travellers have been forced to consider buses, cars or flights instead. That has raised plenty of questions about refunds, ticket changes and passenger rights.

 

Under EU Regulation 2021/782, passengers whose journeys have been cancelled are entitled to a full refund of their ticket, provided the request is made within 30 days. Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo have all confirmed that affected customers can manage free changes or refunds through their websites or mobile apps.

 

Passengers can also choose to be rerouted to their destination as soon as possible or travel at a later date under similar conditions. If no alternative transport is offered within 100 minutes of the scheduled departure time and travellers are forced to organise their own transport, they are entitled to claim back the cost, provided the railway company authorises it or fails to act in time.

 

Depending on waiting times and availability, passengers may also be entitled to meals and refreshments. If an overnight stay becomes unavoidable, rail companies are required to provide hotel accommodation where physically possible, along with transport between the station and the place of stay.

 

The rules for compensation are a bit more complicated. In some cases, passengers may be entitled to up to 50% of the ticket price. However, this does not apply when cancellations are caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond the operator’s control, such as extreme weather, serious natural disasters, public health emergencies, people on the tracks, cable theft, police actions or sabotage.

 

Issues such as mechanical failures, track conditions, staff errors or software problems are considered operational risks, which would make the operator liable. In the case of the Adamuz derailment, investigators will now need to determine exactly what caused the incident before any compensation decisions are confirmed.

 

Image: Renfe