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Delays on Madrid trains after a man enters the tracks
Rail traffic between Atocha and Méndez Álvaro has returned to normal after a morning marked by significant delays. The presence of a man on the tracks forced a temporary suspension of train services, affecting hundreds of travellers using high-speed services and disrupting mobility at one of Madrid’s main railway hubs.
The incident began around 10:00 am, when Adif’s control centre detected a person walking along the tracks between the two stations. For safety reasons, train circulation was suspended while security teams and police intervened to locate the individual and ensure the area was safe.
After being found near Méndez Álvaro station, the man was held by security staff until the arrival of the Policía Nacional, who proceeded to arrest him. According to the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, he is a 42-year-old Russian citizen with a record of common offences, who was placed in police custody to clarify what happened.
The interruption forced the temporary halt of Renfe, Ouigo e Iryo trains running on the high-speed corridor towards Levante. Although traffic was restored about an hour and a half later, delays persisted for much of the day, affecting many travellers.
The incident also coincided with a particularly sensitive period for rail mobility in Madrid, where capacity expansion works are ongoing around Atocha. These works already require changes to frequencies and routes on several Cercanías lines during the summer, so any isolated incident has a greater impact on the network as a whole.
The tunnel connecting Atocha with Méndez Álvaro is one of the strategic points of Madrid’s rail system. High-speed services and numerous trains linking Madrid with other parts of the country pass through it daily. When an incident occurs on this stretch, the repercussions quickly spread to dozens of connections and disrupt the plans of thousands of travellers who rely on the train for their daily journeys.