Time. This is the factor that will now determine the restoration of normal rail service in Spain, and particularly in Catalonia, where the commuter rail network has been mired in chaos for days. This was reiterated by the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, during his appearance before Congress this Tuesday: "The rail network isn't a teapot. It can't be fixed in two days," stated Puente, who, five days after appearing before the Senate regarding the Adamúz (Córdoba) train accident—also a fatal accident in Gelida—repeated the procedure in the lower house of the Spanish Parliament. Puente appeared again at his own request and that of the parliamentary groups—this Tuesday, the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) submitted a list of requests for his appearance regarding the rail chaos—and immediately took the opportunity to defend his decision to address the situation during this rail crisis. He also apologized to commuter rail users. The Transport Minister has been under intense scrutiny for days, especially from the right wing and the Catalan independence movement, who have called for his resignation. But he is also being targeted by railway unions, particularly train drivers, and will meet with them this Wednesday to discuss their demands.

Two train accidents with 46 deaths and rail chaos in Catalonia. These were the two issues that Transport Minister Óscar Puente was forced to address before the Senate on Thursday, at the urging of the People's Party. His appearance followed the expected script—the minister defended his handling of the situation—but gradually became increasingly heated. According to Puente, neither the Adamuz accident, which claimed 45 lives, nor the Gelida accident, which resulted in the death of a train driver, was related to the maintenance of the rail network carried out by Adif and his ministry. However, regarding the recent chaos on Catalan trains, the Transport Minister offered some self-criticism. "The commuter rail service is terrible, but we are working to correct it," the minister acknowledged in response to Junts senator Eduard Pujol, with whom he had a tense exchange after Pujol repeatedly called for his resignation. "I'm not deaf, you don't need to tell me to resign again," the minister retorted.

The commuter rail service is once again uncertain this weekend. At this time, normal rail service is not guaranteed for Saturday, nor is an alternative bus service. Since Friday night, train service has been experiencing problems on all lines after a day marked by another partial shutdown of the R1 line due to a new landslide onto the tracks between Tordera and Maçanet. The incident—which occurred at a point not identified in the surveys carried out this week—has reopened the crisis with train drivers, who claim they cannot work safely, less than 24 hours after rail service was restored. After midnight, representatives from the Catalan Government, Renfe (the national railway company), and Adif (the railway infrastructure manager) met at the Department of Territory to monitor the rail situation, and, according to the Catalan News Agency (ACN), several risk points on the network have been identified requiring urgent action. The meeting was already scheduled for 7 p.m., before tonight's strikes, but it has been postponed twice and resumed without any announcement being made so far, with further meetings expected throughout the weekend. Government sources assure that a service shutdown like Wednesday's has not been considered, but they also cannot guarantee how service will be provided this Saturday and anticipate "disruptions," without specifying their extent. Since Friday night, some lines have experienced delays exceeding half an hour. The same sources attribute the problems affecting the commuter rail network to the intense and continuous rain of recent days. The Department of Territory has already announced that it will hold further follow-up meetings this Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The commuter rail service has resumed this morning.Trains are running, not with the same frequency on all lines, after two days of nationwide strikes by train drivers. Yesterday, only 6 out of 140 drivers showed up for work. While drivers in Andalusia did strike, those in Catalonia did. In the early morning, trains ran, but with delays and few passengers. This is understandable: if trains aren't running on Wednesday, and then again on Thursday, how can anyone expect them to run on Friday?

Several people sustained minor injuries this Thursday after a passenger train collided with a crane in Cartagena, Murcia. The accident occurred at 12:04 PM when the train, which has only one carriage and was traveling on the Cartagena-Los Nietos line, struck the crane's arm. Sources from the Murcian Ministry of Health, cited by Europa Press, report that six people were injured and taken to the hospital: two 18-year-old men, two men aged 26 and 50, and two women aged 62 and 74. The impact did not derail or overturn the train, which was carrying 16 people, but it did break windows on one side and caused several cuts to at least one of the injured, according to the EFE news agency, which added that two people were treated for anxiety attacks. Firefighters, Civil Guard officers, and paramedics went to the scene to assist the passengers.

The leading hypothesis for the Gelida train accident is that the wall the train crashed into gave way due to the relentless rain of the last five days. In this municipality of the Alt Penedès region, it is estimated that nearly 90 liters per square meter have accumulated since last Friday; this is by no means an exceptional amount of rain, although it is surprising given that it occurred in January, a month that is usually quite dry in Spain. But it's raining on already saturated ground, and five consecutive days of rain have further dampened an area that is becoming very waterlogged. In fact, it hasn't stopped raining since mid-December, and more than 200 liters per square meter have already fallen in the Gelida area, nearly a third of the average annual rainfall. "After so much continuous rain, there comes a point when the ground's capacity is exhausted and it becomes saturated, which alters the properties of the materials and can lead to problems like the ones we're seeing," explained Roberto Espínola, a member of the College of Geologists of Catalonia, in statements to ARA. Espínola emphasizes that clay soils like those found in Gelida are especially vulnerable to heavy and prolonged rainfall. "They have the capacity to absorb water into their structure; this causes them to swell and expand, but then they can expel the water, which produces instability in the ground, with possible cracks, landslides, or rockfalls," Espínola asserts. "There are abundant clay materials in the Gelida area."

Closed gates and out-of-service trains. Tuesday's double accident on the Catalan rail network, shortly after the serious collision between two trains in Adamuz, Córdoba, has raised serious concerns about the state of the infrastructure in Catalonia. For this reason, authorities decided in the early hours of the morning to suspend all commuter rail service until the safety of the entire network could be confirmed. Transport Minister Óscar Puente confirmed this afternoon that the service would not operate for the entire day. This morning, stations were filled with people who were unaware of the service suspension, and information points were set up to assist them.

Of all the means of transport, the train has always seemed the most comfortable to me. It takes you there without you having to drive it; if the tracks wind, you don't notice them like on a bus; the carriages glide along as if the ground were flat. Unlike airplanes, it doesn't expose you to the vertigo of heights, and even if the journey is long, you don't have to sacrifice your dignity going through security like at airports. I've spent half my life on trains, from the worst commuter lines to high-speed trains where they offered me cava. A unique kind of coexistence always takes place; it's a space where you can observe other people's lives, attitudes, and ways of doing things, far removed from those familiar to us. On the last train I took, last week, a woman with a Brazilian accent was asking for help stowing her enormous suitcase, shouting, "Isn't there a man here?" "I'm not a man," I told her, "but I can help you." Other times, I've been offered a helping hand. That someone is willing to do it fills me with hope and confidence. As we help each other carry suitcases, unload strollers, position wheelchairs, and offer an arm for an elderly woman to lean on, we will preserve the most important and most human evolutionary trait of all: empathy.

Today the commuter train is not running.Not a single line. Last night, a wall collapsed onto a train between Gelida and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, resulting in the death of the train driver, who was in training. There are about forty injured, four of them seriously. According to Adif, the Spanish rail infrastructure manager, the retaining wall collapsed due to the recent storms. Shortly after the accident, the government and Renfe (the Spanish national railway company) decided to inspect all commuter rail lines to ensure passenger safety, and service would not resume until they were completed. The result has been chaos, misinformation, anger, and thousands of people who were unable to get to work, school, or do anything else today because they had no alternative public transportation.

The AP-7 motorway between Martorell and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, southbound, will be closed for "a few days" due to the risk of the retaining wall that collapsed onto the road. R4 train It could end up giving way completely. Early this morning, the Catalan Traffic Service (Servei Català de Trànsit) had already closed 1.5 kilometers of the right lane towards Tarragona as a precaution, but due to the instability of the terrain, the closure was extended to all three lanes on this road that crosses Catalonia from north to south. However, the measure has had consequences for the mobility of many users. Specifically, the A-2, the road to which much of the traffic that usually uses the AP-7 is being redirected, has accumulated up to 18 kilometers of traffic jams between Cornellà de Llobregat and Martorell in the direction of Barcelona due to the closure, according to the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT).

The tragic Adamuz accident, with over 40 fatalities and more than 40 missing, has understandably created a sense of uncertainty, both among railway line managers and passengers. Indeed, regarding the causes of the accident, everything is currently speculation. Experts, train drivers, industry workers, and, following them, the politicians in charge are desperately seeking technical explanations for a railway disaster as serious as it is, for the moment, incomprehensible and enigmatic.

Today we still have a "Extremely strange" train accident and a "very rare" disease.

This Monday was supposed to be a politically significant event: the meeting between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, after almost a year without a meeting. However, last night both decided to cancel their schedules due to the Adamuz train tragedy in Andalusia. Given the large number of victims and the severity of the accident, the Spanish Prime Minister traveled this morning to the site of the tragedy to gather firsthand information. He then addressed the media to announce three days of official mourning and to make it clear that it is "a day of sorrow for all of Spain" and that he will get to the bottom of what happened. In a press conference where no questions were taken, the Spanish Prime Minister did not comment on the possible causes of the accident, as the Ministry of Transport has admitted that its origin is unknown—"it's strange," Minister Óscar Puente stated yesterday, Sunday. In this regard, Sánchez guaranteed that he "will uncover the truth." "When the cause is known, with absolute transparency, we will inform the public," he said. Minutes earlier, speaking to X, Puente had said the following: "We have been able to confirm the seriousness of what happened and the terrible consequences. But we don't know, nor does anyone know at this time, the causes. It will be the Railway Accident Investigation Commission that determines them." Thus, Puente asked for "prudence in analyses based on speculation."

The week has started terribly. At the time we spoke to you, The death toll from last night's train accident in Adamuz rises to 39.In the province of Córdoba, there are 150 injured, some in critical condition. According to the official version, an Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid derailed, crossed onto the adjacent continuous track, and caused an Alvia train traveling from Madrid to Huelva to derail. Two carriages of this Alvia train, carrying about fifty people, were thrown from the train and fell down a 4-meter embankment.