From starting classes at the university or the work day at 9:00 a.m. to doing so at 11:00 a.m., there is a two-hour difference that they will either have to make up for or they will have lost. This is what has happened to the users of the lines C-2, C-7 and C-8 of Madrid suburbs this Monday morning at the height of rush hour, when a fault in the signage at the entrance to the Atocha station has caused the passengers of two trains that had been stopped for about an hour at Téllez Street to activate the opening of emergency doors and end up on foot, walking along the tracks, the last meters of the journey to Atocha.
Upon arrival at the station platforms, passengers have even crossed the tracks and have received help from security personnel to quickly get on the platforms and avoid an unfortunate possible collision. According to Renfe sources, this incident has not caused physical harm to any passengers, but it has caused delays that are gradually being resolved.
The presence of people on the tracks has forced circulation to be cut off between 9 and 9:17 a.m. at the entrance to Atocha to guarantee safety, the railway manager has indicated. As a result of this incident, there have been average delays of 25 minutes on lines C-2 (Guadalajara-ChamartÃn), C-7 (Alcalá de Henares-PrÃncipe PÃo) and C-8 (Guadalajara-Cercedilla).
Juan Francisco, 21-year-old worker and resident in Vallecashas been one of the people who has suffered the unprecedented scene this Monday and has denounced it with several videos uploaded to the social network X. “It is a shame. This is just another day on Renfe, the usual“he laments 20 minutes.
The young man left his house shortly after eight in the morning to take the C8 at around 8:20 a.m. in Assembly to Atocha, but when he was about to enter Atocha, the train remained “stopped, closed, without air, one hour.” He explains that what was seen this Monday, people walking along the tracks to reach the central station, “I’ve never seen it”. According to his story, the walking distance was “about five minutes.”
“The car was full. People were nervous and overwhelmed. A girl almost fainted from the heat and another person vomited. When they opened the doors, older people had to be helped to get down to the tracks. This is one more day of work lost because of Renfe. I should have started the day at nine and it is 10:30 and I am still in ChamartÃn and I have to get to Colmenar Viejo. Today I will have to make up about three hours of work due to this delay,” complains Juan Francisco, on the phone with 20 minutes.
As confirmed by sources from Renfe Also, which is investigating the circumstances of what happened, one or more passengers of both affected trains have activated the alarm system and the rest of the travelers have abandoned the convoy to walk along the tracks of the CercanÃas network to the Atocha station. . For this reason, traffic has been cut off between 9 and 9:17 a.m. at the entrance to Atocha to guarantee safety and security personnel have been notified immediately and has proceeded to help in the evacuation of passengers from the tracks.
Another person who suffered this morning’s breakdown is Marta Carrasco, a Marketing and Advertising student in Pozuelo. Every day she completes the journey from her house in Santa Eugenia on CercanÃas. There she took a train on the C7 line this morning at 7:15 a.m. to get to her first class, at 9:00 a.m. But, “one more day”, he has arrived late. Although what happened this morning was “unheard of,” she says as she arrives in Pozuelo at 11:00 am.
His story describes an “overwhelming” scene in which the windows of his carriage, full of people “like sardines in a can”, have begun to condense due to the heat inside. “We were all sweating, it was very overwhelming, two people fainted. They did not say anything over the public address system and, after 50 minutes, people began to knock on the doors and, in the end, they pulled the emergency lever to open the doors and people began to leave to walk along the tracks. “.
The young woman, 18 years old, has chosen to stay inside the train. She explains to 20 minutes that the delays have continued upon arriving at Atocha, that it has taken another 20 minutes since the passengers opened the doors with the emergency lever, and that they have suffered waits again in PrÃncipe PÃo. “I always go by train and something always happens, the service is pretty bad, but today was completely crazy“he concludes.
