Rail chaos continues in Malaga with more trains cancelled

Mayor of Fuengirola demands the Cercancias train service be restored

Mayor of Fuengirola demands the Cercancias train service be restored. Image: Wikimedia

Rail chaos continues in Malaga with more trains cancelled

Users of the Cercanias de Malaga train system are still caught in a situation of uncertainty, with dozens of routes being cancelled every day. Today, Thursday, November 11, the CGT union reported that at least 38 suburban trains will be cancelled, 34 on C1 lines, and 2 on C2. This will continue on Friday 12, and the union has accused Renfe of “continuing to expel” railway users.

Including today’s cuts, that makes a total of 182 trains cancelled in the last seven days. Since January 1, the total is an astounding 2,992. According to CGT, these cuts were made “with the consideration of OSP (Public Service Obligations) that are taken from the population despite appearing in the Renfe-State contract as railway services committed to providing a minimum service”.

“From CGT we demand resignations or dismissals in the Renfe Management before the last decisions adopted yesterday. They not only go against the right of travellers but also contravene the company’s own labour regulations when making unilateral decisions that cause damage to some workers with respect to others”, a CGT statement said.

The union also condoned the lack of information available to the public through the app, with travellers unable to check which trains have been cut in the timetable. They described these actions as “a social alarm, derived solely and exclusively from the disastrous management and human resource planning”.
As pointed out by the union, this lack of information causes “multiple disruptions to the users, who are not going to know which train that is cancelled until they are at the stations”. Adding, “Trains are cancelled at will, but there is no reduction in fares. Not even those who have paid transport vouchers can use them due to the reduction in schedules”.

CGT warns that, given the “confusion, discomfort and discontent” of users , Renfe workers in the commercial, ticket office, and customer service areas are the “real victims” and as a result, are suffering “an increase in unpleasant stressful situations”.

“They are putting their own occupational health at risk by having to face insults, expletives, etc, for being the visible face of the Renfe company before the public”, said the CGT statement.

According to information, two train drivers from Cercanias have been transferred to the AVE trains, that are not OSP, to avoid any cancellation of the high-speed train service.

By the end of Friday, November 12, there will have been 3,000 train cancellations in Malaga so far this year. CGT intends to present a letter addressed to the head of Renfe Cercanias in Malaga, Juan Francisco Araujo, about this “sad” statistic. In addition, the union is organising a day of protest against the railway situation in Malaga on December 3 at the Vialia Maria Zambrano station, as reported by laopiniondemalaga.es.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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