The president of Adif, Pedro Marco de la Peña, has explained that the current forecast to recover direct high-speed traffic from Málaga is set “at least” “not before the last week of April”. He has stressed that it is “an absolutely provisional situation”, which will be reviewed every 15 days.
He also advanced that “practically all year we are going to be with a single track”, since they will continue “demolishing wall until practically the month of June”, while “the track apparatus that is affected, has already been ordered from one of the companies that manufacture it so that we have it between five to six months and have it installed by the end of the year”.
These statements were made during his visit to the recovery works of the high-speed line damaged since February 4 by the storm train, which caused the collapse of a wall of almost 300 meters in Álora (Málaga). After a detailed analysis of the walls and track elements, it has been verified that it is not possible to meet the initial objective of reestablishing the railway connection on March 23.
“We have to change the action plan, we cannot reopen on the 23rd, we are going to go for a much deeper operation, by which what we are going to do is a complete elimination of the walls, knock down the slope and therefore that takes us quite a few more dates, but we understand that it is the only possible solution to guarantee safety and it is the best possible solution because that way we remove the problem from the root,” he/she has indicated in statements to Europa Press.
Marco de la Peña has stressed that work is being done “with the maximum possible means, 24 hours of work from Monday to Sunday” and has recalled that high-speed rail to Malaga remains operational, although “it is true that with an incident and with an added difficulty, which is a bus transfer from Antequera, but service exists”, insisting that it is “the best decision for the future”.
Negative safety factor
Regarding the management of the emergency, he/she/it reported that after the incident "the first thing" was "to guarantee the safety of our workers" and that it was not possible to act on the ground until after "15 or 20 days after the event," since "this was a mud zone, we really didn't know what situation the rest of the wall was in and furthermore any element we would have done would have harmed us in the future."
The initial forecast to fully restore high speed on March 23 was based on the fact that the parts of the wall that remained “were stable and could really withstand a provisional situation or at least with sufficient guarantee and safety factors to resume circulation,” although he has remarked that these were only estimates.
However, he/she/it has indicated that “once all calculations have been reviewed, once being able to review ‘in situ’ the state of the walls that we still have standing, those walls really do not provide the necessary structural safety factor to maintain any type of circulation. At some moments and with some hypotheses they are giving us a negative safety factor, that is, below one”.
Given this scenario, he has stated that “it forces us to have to look for a more committed solution, longer term, but it is true, much safer, which is to eliminate said walls as much as we can to eliminate the cause and the problem at its root”. These works have already begun, but they postpone the complete recovery of the service until the end of April.
"All the track apparatus is totally and absolutely non-operational"
He has detailed that next week a part of the actions will be completed and the wall demolition teams will be doubled, with the intention of “improving that date somewhat, but really, as of today, we see it frankly difficult, unless we really improve the performance”. He has also alluded to the “bad luck” of the forecast of several days of rain, which “may hinder us somewhat”.
As remarked the president of Adif, after the “very sensitive” removal of materials and a demolition “also on a small scale, with small machinery”, it has been verified that “the entire track apparatus is totally and absolutely inoperative and therefore that is going to cause us a problem during what remains of the year at an operational level”.
Therefore, he has reiterated that, once the connection is reestablished, initially at the end of April, "demolishing wall until practically the month of June" will continue, while the affected track device "has already been ordered from one of the companies that manufacture it, so that we already have it within five to six months and have it installed by the end of the year."
This will involve maintaining circulation on a single track and a speed limit which, he has said, will entail delays “of a few minutes.” “The technicians who manage and determine the capacity of the track have conveyed tranquility to me and that probably some service schedule might have to be modified, but that most of the connections and all of the connections of the city of Malaga with the rest of Spain are guaranteed,” he has assured.
Asked if until the end of April the bus link from Antequera will continue to be used or if travel time can be shortened, he replied that these are issues “that operating companies have to do” and confirmed that “on Renfe’s part, the utmost interest is being placed on finding the maximum possible solutions”.
He added that Renfe faces “two additional problems. It has its access to the workshops of Malaga and the workshops of Algeciras totally closed, that is, it can neither take trains for maintenance nor remove the trains it has under maintenance”, although it trusts that next week material can be moved in restricted traffic.
Looking ahead to summer, he has considered that, although the late April horizon may shift “a few weeks,” the connection should be operational for the summer season. “We set ourselves the idea of a committed and reliable objective for the end of April and we understand that it has to be that way,” he has remarked.
Claim of the Junta de Andalucía
Regarding a possible patrimonial claim by the Junta de Andalucía if the line was not reopened during Holy Week, he has defended that the cause is one of “force majeure”. “I believe there have not historically been rainy seasons in Andalusia in this way,” he pointed out, also recalling that there are still other lines to be restored.
“We, it is clear, put all the means, put all the commitment and work with the safety of our workers and passengers. I don't know what legal reason they can find for this exercise of responsibility, but the Board is sovereign to do what it considers. I, in my opinion, it would be a waste of time, but as I say, it is the Board's own consideration,” he added.
He has also advanced that they are updating the economic estimate of the emergency and has pointed out that “practically now, of all the storms we have suffered throughout Spain, we are at more than 300 million of pure emergency”.
When asked about the absence of government representatives in this appearance, he concluded: “I don't feel alone. It is entirely Adif's responsibility.” And he concluded: “We are the managers of the infrastructure, we are the ones who built it, we are the ones who have to repair it and we are the ones who have to provide service to operators and explain things to the public. I understand it is my responsibility, of course.”