Renfe challenges CRTM report on Madrid Cercanías incident figures

Renfe has rejected the latest report from the Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid (CRTM) that was used by the regional government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The CRTM document, released in March, recorded 323 service incidents on the Cercanías commuter rail network between 1 January and 2 March 2026 – roughly five per day. Renfe’s analysis of the same WhatsApp alerts reduces the count to 293 incidents, a 10 % decrease, arguing that CRTM double‑counted updates and re‑classified generic messages as new incidents.

Both parties agree on incidents with clearly identified causes such as fire, vandalism or accidents, but diverge sharply on categories like infrastructure failures and rolling‑stock breakdowns, where CRTM’s numbers are several times higher. The dispute underscores a political clash between the Madrid regional administration and the state‑owned railway operator over data transparency and service reliability for commuters.