Renfe Train Loses Electricity on the Way to Barcelona

This is very, very, very bad behaviour of RENFE. But we are used to that.
They should not have left you fgor 9 hours on that train, but immediately put you on other trains. If using only regional trains you would still have gotten you to Barcelona sooner.

And now they make it hard for you to get compensation? They really should get hung out to dry for this. I am not joking. If I had been in your situation I would be livid.

Your rights as a traveller are outlined here:

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/rail/index_en.htm#delayed

Generally speaking as soon as it appears that your delay at your destination will be more than 60 minutes the railway must provide you with an alternative means to get to your destination. They have 100 minutes do do so. If they don't, you can make your own arrangements. So you could have for example on your own initiative booked the TGV from Beziers (or wherever you got stuck) to Barcelona and later claimed compensation from them.

You are entitled to a refund of 50% of your ticket price. And the railway must refund that to the same means you used for payment. However RENFE is notoriously bad at customer service (they make SNCF look excellent in comparison....). Their claim form ( https://venta.renfe.com/vol/selecIndemAuto.do ) seems to be only in Spanish...

but I would persist. If they do not reply, then follow the suggestions on the passenger rights page I showed.

I am due to take that same train in May. I hope things go well. RENFE has serious issues with the services to France at the moment, and it is an outright scandal that cross border rail services between France and Spain are so bad.

Rail Europe was helpful in working with Renfe. RailEurope offered to go between.

Renfe returned 50% but refused to do anymore. their policy about 50% for 2 hours delay is nice to help offset the inconvenience of a short delay. Being stuck for 8 hours in the dark inside a train with people smoking and having no additional consideration is upsetting.

They ought to change their policy for these types of incredibly painful trips.

It seems like they often have these extended delays which makes me never want to trust their train system again.

They should have offered you alternative transportation. If they did not you may actually have a stronger claim.

They should have offered you alternative transportation. If they did not you may actually have a stronger claim.

From the OP's post it seems that the train was stuck on the tracks in between stations, In which case it would not have been possible to provide other transportation, and the line may have been blocked anyway.
That may have made it difficult to send a rescue locomotive to couple up and move the stranded train.

It looks as if they did provide other transport when the train reached a station- at Beziers.

What a hellish situation. So, were you coming from Paris and lost power while still in France? Did they send a new train north from Barcelona for you?

Same happened with the electricity to my bff going from Montpellier in southern France to Madrid using RENFE. Just over the border in Spanish Catalonia, after Figueres, they lost power and had to be put on a local train to Barcelona.

I took that route round trip a few weeks ago on RENFE and realize we were lucky. We've lost power in France on SNCF when thieves cut the wires for the valuable metals.

we were stuck on a narrow isthmus between the beaches and the Etang de Thau. there was no way to exit the train safely and the conductors correctly kept the doors closed.

without electricity (no lights nor circulating air) it was a very challenging place to be stuck for 8 hours. this was not just about being delayed. they should just give back the full ticket price for the pain. we are not asking for anything more related to the lost plans at our destination.

we also found out that the biggest issue about getting the train moving was disconnecting us completely from the electrical lines. the diesel they called to pull us was available. the train they sent from Spain was reportedly waiting for us in Beziers for 5 hours so that wasnt the issue. The next iteration of these fast trains should definitely include some easier ability to disconnect from the overhead lines.

Horrible story, but even if you booked the ticket from RENFE the train would have been operated by SNCF, so it would be their fault and it might be worth going after them for compensation. I should say that that level of chaos is very uncommon on European railways and tends to hit the national news when it happens.

it was a very challenging place to be stuck for 8 hours. That's an understatement.
I know where you were, next to the oyster beds. Yes, electrical problems occur. As I wrote, it happened to friends in a Renfe train on the same route; it's happened to me going Paris when thieves cut the line for the precious metals (a daily occurance). But yours was the Renfe engine and not the lines.

No, Philip. The train, the ticket, the whole problem was Renfe's, their evening train to Barcelona from France. Not being part of the EU, you might be unaware that rail companies are now competing outside their home countries. We have Spanish and Italian trains trying to toot along inside France, while French low-cost OUIGO goes over the border. It's supposed to benefit us, or so we're told. I liked it better when Renfe and SNCF cooperated rather than competed. In fact, I wonder if this cross-border "competition" played a part in the delay. Were SNCF technicians sent to help Renfe or did Renfe have to rely only on their own employees? The protocol is created in Brussels.