The Spanish rail operator Renfe has been ordered to pay nearly EUR 21,000 to a passenger injured in an accident at Fuengirola station following the sudden stoppage of an escalator. The company even attempted to dispute that the woman was a passenger, as she no longer had her ticket, but the court rejected this argument.
Renfe, Spain’s state-owned rail operator, has definitively lost the case against a passenger injured at Fuengirola station, in the province of Málaga, and will have to pay her compensation of EUR 20,713.83.
The Provincial Court of Málaga upheld in full a previous ruling in the woman’s favour, bringing to an end a dispute that began following an accident that occurred almost a decade ago.
The woman and her husband had arrived in Fuengirola on a Cercanías train from Málaga and were heading towards the station exit when the escalator they were on suddenly stopped.
As a result of the sudden stop, other passengers’ luggage began to slide down the steps, and one of the suitcases struck the woman. She sustained injuries to her arms and legs and required medical attention.
Renfe argued that the woman had not proved her status as a passenger
One of the arguments put forward by Renfe in court was that the woman had not produced her train ticket and had therefore not demonstrated that she was in fact a passenger.
However, the judges rejected this defence.
The court considered that it was entirely plausible that the woman had lost her ticket as a result of the accident, particularly given that the injuries she sustained required her to be taken to hospital.
Furthermore, the court emphasised that the ticket was not the only way in which the journey could be proven.
The woman was in an area of the station accessible only to passengers, and Renfe’s own ticketing system, in principle, prevents access by people without a valid ticket.
In these circumstances, the judges ruled that the operator could not subsequently claim that the woman had not been a passenger, given that her access to that area had been permitted by the company’s staff and systems.
The court accepted the passenger’s account
Renfe also contested the way in which the accident had been described.
To reconstruct the events, the court examined the statement made by the woman’s husband and the report drawn up on the very day of the incident by the station’s security officer.
Both sources supported the same account of how the accident occurred.
However, according to the court, Renfe failed to present evidence to demonstrate that events unfolded differently.
The judges therefore upheld the lower court’s conclusion regarding the circumstances in which the woman was injured.
Renfe failed to demonstrate that it had taken all necessary safety measures
An important aspect of the ruling concerns the operator’s obligations towards passengers.
The court ruled that, under consumer protection legislation, the passenger did not have to prove exactly what negligence Renfe had committed. Instead, the operator had to demonstrate that the installation complied with safety standards and that all reasonable measures had been taken to prevent such an accident.
Renfe failed to provide such evidence.
The court noted that the sudden stoppage of the escalator could have been caused by a fault, problems with the monitoring and control systems, or a failure to comply with the necessary safety standards.
The judges also rejected the argument that the sudden stoppage of an escalator was simply a normal risk of everyday life. In the court’s view, it was precisely the fault in the equipment that created the dangerous situation which led to the passenger’s injury.
Renfe also contested the amount of compensation, arguing that the injuries and long-term effects had been assessed too generously. This argument was also rejected, and the sum of EUR 20,713.83 set by the court of first instance was upheld in full.
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