Train and bus services resume in Valencia this week
The Madrid-Valencia high-speed AVE will be up and running again from November 14
Transport has become one of the major problems in post-emergency Valencia following the flash flooding as a result of the DANA at the end of last month. Hundreds of kilometres of roads and railways were cut off by the storms, with the authorities scrambling to re-establish connections two weeks after the disaster.
But there is some good news, as Minister of Transport Óscar Puente has confirmed that 99% of the local trains are back up and running, although some parts of the journeys still have to be completed by bus due to damage to the tracks. And from Thursday November 14, the high-speed AVE between Valencia and Madrid will once again be operational after 16 days.
In fact, Renfe has already put tickets on sale for this vital artery between the Valencian Community and the capital, and this week should also see the return of Ouigo and Iryo to their usual timetables.
Adif and Ministry teams have been working around the clock for the past two weeks in a frantic attempt to repair the 1.2 kilometres of tracks that virtually disappeared under the torrential rains of October 29, with the Chiva and Torrent tunnels the worst affected.
At least 11,400 people have been affected every day by the interruption of the Renfe service, in addition to another 5,700 daily passengers on Iryo and 4,000 on Ouigo.
This means that in the last two weeks, nearly 340,000 train seats have been out of circulation, not counting the additional seats that are put in place on weekends and holidays.
In addition to the rail lines, the A-7 motorway bypass is expected to be operational on Wednesday November 13 and the N-330 bypass by next Monday, November 18.
So far, a huge team of 540 personnel working in three shifts has managed to repair 139 of the 160 kilometres of road that were rendered useless by the storms.
Image: Ayuntamiento de Valencia
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