A woman travelling documented her ordeal after power outages left her and dozens of other passengers stranded on a train in "the middle nowhere" for 10 hours.

Sammy-Jo told Newsflare: "We came to a halt around 12:30 PM—somewhere south of Toledo, about a 1.5-hour walk from the nearest town. The train was completely stuck, and we were given almost no information.

"At first, everyone tried to stay calm, despite the sweltering heat inside the carriages. The conductor eventually made an announcement claiming that all of Spain had lost power. Confusion and worry quickly spread—I honestly thought we were under some kind of cyberattack, and I wasn’t alone in that feeling.

"Later, the conductor came through to open one door per carriage, but it didn’t help much. After 4–5 hours of being trapped in stifling heat people started taking matters into their own hands.

"Some passengers climbed out of the train, others danced, took photos, or just sat on the gravel to cool off. A few had radios, which gave us bits and pieces of information, but Renfe offered no real support—no consistent announcements, no staff walking through the train to explain anything, and no reassurance. At one point, we were explicitly told to stay inside the hot train, which felt more like a punishment than a safety measure.

"After 7–8 hours, kind locals from nearby villages arrived with food and water. Their generosity was the only bright spot. Some passengers walked off along the tracks and never came back.

"Finally, around 9:30 PM, the police showed up with coach buses. Shockingly, they told us they’d been informed the train had already been evacuated hours earlier. (This came after my boyfriend sent an emergency SOS around 8pm more or less) In reality, hundreds of us were still there, in the dark, waiting. We were given two options: stay on the powerless train overnight, or take a bus to Toledo and try to find a place to sleep on our own."

We came to a halt around 12:30 PM somewhere south of Toledo (39°36'14.0"N 3°47'52.0"W), about a 1.5-hour walk from the nearest town we later found out.

At first, I didn't think much of it as its common for trains to stop and let others pass, however, once 30 minuted had passed, I started to question why we were halted for so long.

The conductor eventually made an announcement saying that all of Spain had lost power. Then there was talk about similar things happening in France and Portugal. Confusion and worry quickly took over the carriage I was in and I honestly thought we were under some kind of cyberattack (as did many others.)

After being stopped on the tracks for around 2-3 hours, the conductor came through to open one door per carriage, but it didn’t help much in the heat of central Spain. We were explicitly told to stay inside the hot train, which felt more like a punishment than a safety measure.
After 4–5 hours of being trapped in stifling heat people started taking matters into their own hands and exited the train.

A few people had radios, which gave us bits and pieces of information. We heard that power may not be restored until the morning. On the other hand Renfe offered no real support—no consistent announcements, no staff walking through the train to explain anything, and no reassurance.

After 7–8 hours, kind locals from nearby villages arrived with food and water.

Finally, around 9:30/10 PM, the police showed up with coach buses. Shockingly, they told us they’d been informed the train had already been evacuated hours earlier (They only came after my boyfriend sent an emergency SOS around 8 PM.) In reality, hundreds of us were still stranded in the dark, waiting. We were given two options: spend the night on the powerless train, or board a bus to Toledo and find our own lodging.