Why have all the escalators at Malaga Airport's train station ground to a halt?

This is a breakdown after breakdown at the Cercanías commuter train station at Malaga Airport which is on the C1 line between the city and Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. All four escalators have been closed for weeks, leaving passengers with the only option of using the overcrowded lifts to transfer their luggage to the platforms on the lower level. The station's facilities are of great necessity, given the volume of people passing every day.

"Not a single escalator working. It's not like it's a station with a lot of traffic, especially at this time of year," commented one frustrated passenger on his social media account. "It's shameful and even more so in the middle of Easter," said another. "They've been like this for weeks, I'd say months. There's only one lift on each platform, overcrowded by users; you can imagine the chaos," said an airport worker who uses the Cercanía train service every day.

Spain's national railway operator Renfe, the company responsible for the facilities, has admitted that there is an issue. "Due to a technical incident, the four escalators at the airport station are out of service," said a company spokesperson and explained that the problem has been caused by "the breakdown of one of the parts". The company has assured that it is working to resolve the problem as soon as possible. As an alternative, it offers the two lifts, which are working correctly.

The situation has reminded the travelling public of another frustrating situation: the so-called 'Korean escalator' case, which unfolded between August 2023 and February 2024. It was almost two years ago that one of the escalators at the airport received this title by a regular use of the service.

The passenger sought a response on social media and received the following reply from Renfe: "The maintenance company Schindler is waiting to receive the necessary material from Korea. This will delay the procedure." The component arrived half a year after the problem was first reported - in February 2024. It took technicians two weeks to finish the repair.