Union highlights train service failures
Journeys more 19th than 21st century, they claim
PROBLEMS in modernising the key train service linking Marina Alta communities have resulted in an almost five-year delay in fully reopening.
Popular with commuters and tourists, Line 9 of the narrow-gauge TRAM should link the Denia terminal with Benidorm and give access to the rest of the Alicante network, but it was closed to undergo years of engineering work.
Closed in the summer of 2016, the whole line was scheduled to be in use again by 2019, now it is unlikely a train journey between Denia and Benidorm will take place before 2023.
The line is in use between Benidorm and Teulada and work continues on the railway line between Teulada and Gata de Gorgos and simultaneously between Gata and Denia – a bus service is in operation until it is finished.
However, union CCOO has denounced operator FGV which runs the network for the Valencia regional government for continued postponements in the timetable for essential work and years of a lack of investment. As an example, it said new rolling stock was too heavy for bridges which had been replaced or renovated in 2017; meaning the project was delayed as new bridges were planned and constructed.
And the CCOO also spoke out over the experience of passengers, who ‘have been enduring eternal journeys more typical of the 19th century than the 21st’ – adding there were ‘uncomfortable’ bus transfers, hindered by a lack of information due to the absence of staff at stations.
It also blamed staff shortages for increased mechanical problems with the existing rolling stock, listing a recent example.
“During the recent cold snap, several trains have been running without heating due to breakdowns… leaving passengers and workers having to withstand temperatures close to zero degrees,” they noted.
It said if workshops were not working to full capacity, the ability to keep trains in service would be hit – which could cause delays and cancellations in the service.
The CCOO also said drivers had filed a complaint about the situation ‘with the intention of pressuring FGV management to take urgent measures’.