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After a power cable failure, the high-speed train line in Spain's Andalusia is cut.

A power cable failure on high-speed trains between Madrid and Andalusia left passengers stranded overnight and into Tuesday morning.

In Madrid and other southern Spanish cities, including Seville, world leaders were attending a United Nations Conference on Development Financing. Around 20 trains had been blocked or could not depart on Monday night, while another 10 were cancelled on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for the state-owned railway infrastructure provider ADIF confirmed that traffic between Yeles and La Sagra was suspended at 8:30 pm (0630 GMT), after a catenary wire malfunctioned.

He said that the cause of the malfunction is unknown and ADIF has postponed four times the return to service.

The company has announced that trains between Madrid, Andalusian cities and other Spanish cities have been cancelled.

ADIF has called upon regional emergency services for assistance and evacuation of stranded passengers. Some had spent hours trapped inside trains during a scorching heatwave that engulfed the country.

As part of the government's push to decarbonise transportation, Spain has seen a rapid expansion of its high-speed network.

It connects most of the major cities in the country, but it is susceptible to cable accidents as it crosses vast swathes that are sparsely populated.

Early May, a copper cable theft caused the same line to be paralyzed for over 12 hours.

Three operators operate the line, Renfe, a former state-owned monopoly, Ouigo, a division of French state railway operator SNCF, as well as Iryo, owned by a consortium that includes Italy's Trenitalia. (Reporting and editing by Saad sayeed; Inti landauro)

(source: Reuters)