Any RENFE whisperers out there?
 

In the few days we've been in Spain, we've already had a couple of travel glitches -- nothing disastrous, but annoying in the moment. Today's installment came in the form of a notification from RENFE regarding our train from Jaen to Cordoba on the 29th, that due to adverse weather conditions ("debido a las condiciones climatológicas adversas") from March 29-April 6 travel will be over the road. No word on how much time that will add to our trip. They say for more details I can check their site, but I'm not seeing anything at all about it there.

I'll call them in the morning, but if anyone knows what local conditions are to blame, I'd be curious to know. I assume that it's really because of weather-related damage, rather than weather conditions during that period.

I'm also going to find out how much extra it would cost us to pay for one more day of our Jaen rental car, and drop it off in Cordoba. It might be worth it, to avoid the RENFE hassle.

It´s been pouring, really pouring, down all over central, southern and eastern Spain for almost three weeks and some areas have been flooded, with disruptions in train travel due to problems with the rails. Bus will work just fine, I would not worry too much about that option. Massive rain has stopped, so not sure if those affections to travel will still be enforced during your visit, have seen nothing on their website. https://cordopolis.eldiario.es/cordo..._12155020.html, a piece of news about this issue.

Terrible Storms over the past weeks.
https://www.euronews.com/video/2025/...ed-near-malaga
https://english.elpais.com/spain/202...acuations.html
https://www.euronews.com/video/2025/...e-across-spain

Thanks to both of you for your replies. They provided helpful context that was missing from the messages I received yesterday -- that the change to this route isn't something new as of the 29th, but rather is a continuation of ongoing disruptions. Also thanks Mikel for confirming that there's nothing about it on their website -- their email really did refer me to the site for more info.

I guess we'll just have to wait until Saturday to find out what'll be.

climate change is everywhere

HellieF,
I see the warning ("aviso") today about the disruption on the Media Distancia trains on March 29 between Jaén and Córdoba. Just to assure you that Renfe will provide alternate bus transportation on that route, which as mikelg say, should be no problem. The distance is only 113 km. and the bus ride provided by Renfe should take no more than 1 hr. 30 minutes.
Renfe also states that those who wish to cancel their ticket will receive a refund.

An article in the the Córdoba daily newspaper states that this year, those who use the Media Distancia trains between Córdoba and Jaén will not have train service for 8.5 months. Therefore, Renfe will need to provide alternate bus service.
The headline: "El tráfico ferroviario entre Córdoba y Jaén estará cortado 8.5 meses en 2025." There is a large work project on this line going on, not weather related apparently.

Wow, 8 months, that's worthy of NYC Transit. In fact it reminds me of a project now inconveniencing riders at a station near me.

If the bus will only take about a half hour more than the train would have, it's not a big deal, as long as Renfe has seats for us on the bus. (My trip report will tell the tale of the ALSA bus with two missing seats -- ours!) And in Cordoba, we're staying in a hotel, so check-in time isn't that crucial -- it's not as if we need to coordinate with someone who's getting us access to an apartment.

Wow, Alsa had two missing seats on your bus that you had paid for and reserved?

When the Sevillla to Granada and Granada to Madrid high speed train routes were under construction, and it took forever, as the Granada citizens were completely without train service for 3+ years (almost 4 years), Renfe did put on replacement bus service, which we actually took, from Granada to Sevilla. So I would assume that they will do the same in this situation. From what I've read, this is a big and rather complicated rail project.

As is always the case, Maribel has the best and most accurate information!

Yes, that's exactly what happened. When we decided on Friday that we wanted to take a later bus out of Malaga the following day, ALSA assigned us two seats at the very back of the bus. We just weren't feeling those, so we paid 2 euro each to switch to seats 19 & 20. When we boarded, there was just empty space where those two seats should have been! There were no unoccupied seats on that bus, so we had to wait another hour for the next one.

I asked ALSA to refund the seat-changing fee, since they sold me seats that weren't there, but the best they would do was to offer me ALSA credits, which I don't anticipate using on this trip.

Neither the 1300 nor the 1400 bus was particularly new -- they reminded me of the grungy Greyhounds I used to take in my college days, many long years ago. So I was none too thrilled at the notion of having to spend an extra half hour or so on the bus next Saturday. However the bus today, from Granada to Jaen, was modern and perfectly fine. Time will tell what equipment will be servicing the route between Jaen and Cordoba.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you what equipment will service the alternate Jaén to Córdoba route, as I don´t know with which local bus company Renfe will contract.

Everything turned out well yesterday. They brought two nice, newish buses, and split the pax into two groups. Those bound for Cordoba and Andujar on one, everyone else on the other. It was a scenic ride, right alongside olive groves, to the sound of tunes from the '80s and '90's. Eye of the Tiger, anyone? We arrived in Cordoba ahead of schedule.