Delhi Metro rushes for urgent cyber shield after Europe's Madrid, Barcelona networks go dark

Panic over cyber-attack fears after blackout hits top European metro systems

A senior official from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has pointed to a recent, catastrophic power failure in Spain and Portugal as a stark warning, emphasising that digitalisation is dramatically intensifying cybersecurity risks for metro rail systems worldwide.

The caution was issued during the UITP India Urban Rail Conference 2025, where the discussion centred on 'cyber threats in metro rail systems - risks, response and management in the framework of emerging technology'. While a cyber attack was ruled out in the April 28 Iberian incident, the DMRC official leveraged the event to highlight the urgent need for fortified defences, according to a TOI report.

The official stressed the critical importance of establishing a comprehensive repository for cyber incidents specifically within metro rail networks. Furthermore, he called for the development of a tailored cybersecurity framework to protect these essential urban transport systems from evolving digital threats.

Panic over cyber-attack fears after blackout hits top European metro systems

The scale of the incident that prompted this warning was vast. As per the TOI report, a sudden blackout on April 28 plunged the metro networks of Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon into chaos.

In Madrid, 230 trains were immobilised, affecting 1,50,000 passengers, with 44 stopping inside tunnels. Barcelona's network was completely paralysed, stranding 20,000 commuters, 19 of its 122 trains trapped in tunnels.

Jordi Picas Albets, director of Systems for Barcelona Metro, provided a firsthand account of the crisis, as cited by TOI. "We were in a meeting room when suddenly the lights went off at 12.33pm," he recounted. "Then some people told us that the whole Barcelona metro network was without energy and the real crisis began." He revealed that 43 people were trapped in elevators and that mobile phone networks failed, forcing staff to rely on mobile radios for coordination.

The evacuation was a monumental effort. Albets confirmed it took nearly two hours to clear the entire Barcelona network, with an average of 51 minutes to evacuate each train. One operation, involving a passenger with reduced mobility, took one hour and 42 minutes.