Alex Trelinski
ANGRY passengers on a Renfe AVE ‘fast’ train from Alicante to Madrid sweltered in soaring temperatures for almost three hours after it was held up in a ‘convoy’ of trains outside the capital’s Chamartin railway station.
A fault on the line left the AVE service immobilised inside a tunnel just 100 metres from the terminus, with temperatures reaching 32 degrees due to a lack of air conditioning.
The 8.35am train from Alicante was due to arrive at 11.00am but passengers did not disembark until around 1.51pm.
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Train operator Renfe said there were 120 people on board but other reports suggested it was more in the region of 200 travellers.
Passengers took to social media to say they were ‘trapped’ and felt like they had been ‘kidnapped’.
At least six other services from Alicante province were also affected including trains operated by Ouigo and Iryo.
Travellers eventually getting into Chamartin station described the scene as ‘chaotic’.
Vox politician and deputy, David Garcia, was on the long-delayed Alicante train and said passengers were given no information about the hold-up and when their journey would eventually end.
Another passenger posted: “I’m starting to hear people wanting to smash windows and to walk on the tracks.”
Once in Chamartin, they had to push through large crowds waiting to board delayed services, including the onward journey of the Alicante train to Valladolid.
