ARCHIVED - 24 trains cancelled in Murcia on Friday as strike affects pre-Christmas travel

The early morning service to Madrid was one of the victims of the latest strike to hit Renfe

A strike by rail workers which has been called by the CGT union has resulted in the cancellation of 271 trains across Spain on Friday, the start of the Christmas travel period, with 24 services no longer running in the Region of Murcia.

The trains cancelled include two Alvia long-distance services between Madrid and the Region of Murcia, one in each direction, as well as four medium-distance services and 18 local services. According to Renfe services will be restricted to 75 per cent in peak travelling times on the Murcia-Alicante and Lorca-Águilas lines and 50 per cent at other times of day, between the cities of Murcia and Cartagena.

As a result, a quarter of all rail services in Murcia on 20^th December are not running, although the Altaria trains to and from Madrid and Barcelona have not been affected.

Renfe have offered to allow travellers to change their tickets to use other trains where possible, either on Friday or at a later date, while those who were unable to board the Alvia in Cartagena at 5.50 in the morning were given the option of travelling to Alicante to board the AVE high-speed service there.

These latest strikes on a key holiday travel day follow those which were held on 5^th December, just before the long holiday weekend, when Renfe found itself obliged to cancel 155 services and disrupt the travel plans of around 11,550 passengers.

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