Alex Trelinski
THE high-speed rail line between Madrid and Valencia will remain closed for at least three weeks due to the serious damage caused by the DANA flooding in Valencia province.
Spain’s Transport Minister, Oscar Puente, said there were also serious issues with key roads in the area and that restoring the A-7 ‘could take months’.
Puente revealed there were two main issues with the high-speed line, one of which was in the Chiva tunnel, where more than a kilometre of track ‘had disappeared’.
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“1.2 kilometres of high-speed infrastructure will have to be replaced, which will take a minimum of three weeks, as long as no further complications arise,” according to Puente.
“If there is electricity today, we will be able to clean and then make a diagnosis.”
“It will not be possible to complete the work in the next three weeks, which is the minimum duration for replacement work, if we do not find anything else,” he explained.
Puente continued: “If the situation of the high-speed train is serious, then that of the Renfe Cercanias routes is very serious.”
“Of the five lines, three are missing, the C1, C2 and C3. We don’t have them, with 45 kilometres completely destroyed on the C3.”
Work will begin to restore the other two lines ‘as soon as possible’ and also the Euromed service to Barcelona.
The minister also appealed for people not to enter or leave Valencia by road unless it is strictly necessary.
“The damage is tremendous,” he said.
“We ask that people do not travel because they are making it difficult for us to carry out priority work which includes finding missing people.”
Puente admitted that a large part of the road network ‘is seriously damaged’.
“It will cost a lot to replace, not just from a economic standpoint but also in time and effort,” he stated.
He said that restoring the A-7 to what it was ‘could take months’.
The collapsed bridge on the Valencia A-7 ring road would usually take 100,000 vehicles every day
“It is going to be very difficult to return that road to normality,” said Puente.
