House transportation panel probes May 14 urban-train power failure; Luma and ATI ordered to share reports

The Commission on Transportation and Infrastructure of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives convened a public hearing at 10:06 a.m. to investigate a May 14, 2025 electrical incident that damaged equipment at the urban train's traction substation and disrupted service. Luma Energy told the commission its records indicate the fault originated inside the train operator's facilities; the Autoridad de Transporte Integrado (ATI) said a preliminary report is ready and a final report is expected by the end of the month.

Why it matters: the power problem triggered protection failures that left roughly 47,547 customers of Luma without service (Luma’s estimate reported at the hearing) and took several train stations and maintenance facilities temporarily offline. Lawmakers pressed both Luma and ATI for technical logs and maintenance records to determine cause, responsibility and steps to prevent recurrence.

Luma presentation and its conclusion Rebeca Maldonado, representing Luma Energy, told the commission that Luma operates Puerto Rico’s transmission and distribution system “up to the point of delivery to customers” and that customer-owned equipment beyond that point is the customer’s responsibility. In her prepared remarks, Luma stated that the urban-train electrification system is fed by five primary substations, that traction runs on a 750-volt direct-current third rail to 10 stations, and that auxiliaries and other station power are supplied from the…