The tragedies in Adamuz and Gelida in January, which caused 47 fatalities, cast doubt on the entire Spanish railway system, not only because the accidents called into question the maintenance and safety of the network, but also because since then train travel has not been the same. In Catalonia, Rodalies still suffers from line closures, speed restrictions and service delays, and high-speed journey times have lengthened. Trips from Barcelona to Madrid now take half an hour longer due to the system, and there are unexpected delays and stops on the tracks without anyone providing any explanation to users. The reason is the speed restrictions imposed by the ministry – especially on the Zaragoza-Calatayud stretch – following incidents reported by train drivers. What complaints are we talking about? Were there more incidents than usual after Adamuz? Did the labor dispute between the Semaf union and the ministry, which ended in a strike, have anything to do with it? And more importantly, what actions has Transport taken to resolve the state of the infrastructure? ARA made a transparency request to the Spanish government to clarify these points, but the request has been rejected. In other words, the public administration has refused to release this information, and the Communications Department of the Ministry of Transport refers to the official response given through the transparency process.

The black boxes of the two trains that crashed on January 18 in Adamuz (Córdoba) reveal that between the derailment of the Iryo train and collision with the Alvia trainOnly fifteen seconds passed, according to a statement released Tuesday evening by the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF). Specifically, the black boxes provide information about the most critical 43 seconds of the accident, between 7:43 p.m. and 7:44 p.m., when the two trains collided while traveling below the permitted speed (250 km/h). The starting point where the Iryo train derailed and occupied the other track (from the Loma del Partidor Norte tunnel to the Adamuz South switch) coincides with the "track where the rail fracture was located," the CIAF indicates. The investigation states that at 19:43:29 hours, an electrical disconnection of the train's motor occurred, "the first anomaly detected as a symptom of the derailment," while fifteen seconds later (at 19:43:44 hours), the Alvia train's black box "stopped recording." This moment, therefore, "presumably corresponds to the moment of the collision between the two trains," according to an initial analysis of the black boxes, which reveals that the derailment triggered an automatic emergency braking of the Alvia through the LZB safety system (a railway safety system). Temperature alarm

According to the CIAF (Spanish Railway Infrastructure Manager), the disconnection was presumably related to "voltage disturbances or a lack of contact between the pantograph and the overhead contact line," being the first anomaly detected as a symptom of the derailment. At the time of the disconnection, which occurred through the opening of the circuit breaker, the Iryo train was traveling at 205 km/h. Four seconds after this first derailment, the Iryo was on track circuit 645, but a temperature alarm was registered in the grease boxes of car 8, "presumably because it was already derailed." "This alarm triggers the activation of the train's brakes, and the train is braking," the CIAF reports, adding that at 19:43:37, eight seconds after the derailment, switch A645 was not checked.

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More than 1 billion euros. That's the investment that the European Investment Bank (EIB), the financing arm for EU projects, allocated in 2025 to the state railways, which are now under scrutiny following the tragic accidents in Adamuz and Gelida. triggers of a virtually unprecedented service and reputational crisisOf this amount, €250 million was part of an agreement signed in December to improve the commuter rail fleet (specifically, 101 trains), as detailed by the president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and former Spanish Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, this Monday. In fact, this is the first tranche of a €500 million loan that will be fully disbursed in the future, she explained. The data was released on the same day that the EIB detailed its investment in Spain for 2025, as well as its global investment plans. The institution reiterated that it invests based on the "demands" of its member states. In the case of the transport sector as a whole, it allocated €1.5 billion, representing 13.6% of the total investment in Spain: €11 billion throughout 2025, to which must be added an additional €2.9 billion from the Resilience Fund linked to European anti-pandemic funds. In total, investment in Spain represents 14% of the EIB's overall budget in 2025.

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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?

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Eurostar, the high-speed train service connecting the UK with mainland Europe, gradually resumed rail services through the Maneg Channel Tunnel on Tuesday evening after several hours with the infrastructure shut down. However, on Wednesday morning, the company warned that delays and last-minute train cancellations were still possible throughout the day. "We plan to operate all services today, although, due to the effects of the strike, there may still be some delays and possible last-minute cancellations," the text added. On Tuesday, the rail company had announced the closure of the tunnel due to a power outage and the subsequent breakdown of the Le Shuttle train—the service that transports cars and trucks between France and Great Britain—forcing the company to "suspend all services today until nine." While Eurostar initially warned of the risk of "significant delays and last-minute cancellations," it later confirmed the suspension of all scheduled services on Tuesday. Hours later, it announced that it was gradually resuming train traffic on this infrastructure. Complications began Monday night into Tuesday morning due to a power outage affecting trains in a section of the Channel Tunnel, disrupting train and convoy traffic and requiring technical intervention. Eurostar, the company that operates high-speed lines from London to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam and is one of the main users of the Channel Tunnel, had to suspend its services Tuesday morning after many of its trains experienced delays, some lasting several hours.

Eurostar is offering affected passengers the option to rearrange their plans by changing their booking free of charge to travel in the same class, on a different date or time; canceling their booking and requesting an e-voucher to use within 12 months of the cancelled travel date; or canceling their booking and receiving a refund. Eurostar also states that affected LNER customers, the North East London Rail operator, with tickets dated Tuesday, December 30, "will be able to travel on an alternative LNER train today." In addition, customers who had to abandon their journey at London St. Pancras station will be able to return to their original station on the next available LNER service at no extra cost, while LNER customers who choose to postpone their Eurostar journey will be able to use their existing LNER ticket for travel on the same day.

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The last decades of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th were a time when electrification became fashionable. The realization that the Pyrenean waterfalls could be a source of energy forever changed both the landscape and the country's business ecosystem. Some key figures in this process were Carles Montañès Criquillion, Frederick S. Pearson, and Emili Riu Periquet, among others. But less well-known today, yet with the same entrepreneurial spirit as the others, was the engineer Lluís Rouvière Bula, who not only dedicated himself to electricity but also designed highly significant railway projects.

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The Spanish train operator Renfe, which manages the trains that run on the Cercanías de Catalunya service (among others), decided this week to undertake a transparency exercise and publish its punctuality and delay data across the country. They did so through their transparency and good governance portal, using data updated through September of this year. The first figure that stands out is obvious: according to the company's calculations, only 47.7% of trains run on schedule. In other words, more than half of the trains do not meet established schedules and arrive later than scheduled at the various stations and stops along their route.

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The commuter train service in Camp de Tarragona continues to be a complete nonsense. The frequencies are insufficient, the infrastructure is obsolete, and the constant breakdowns and delays generate great uncertainty among users. This situation influences and strengthens the dependence on private vehicles to the detriment of public transport. Without significant investment in improving rail services, the transition toward more efficient and environmentally friendly mobility will be severely limited.

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Three hours of meeting and ten agreements on the table. The Generalitat, the Spanish government and the presidents of Adif and Renfe have left the emergency meeting this Sunday - convened yesterday by the Department of Territory - with a list of measures that should help improve the train service in Catalonia or, at least, avoid The chaos in railway mobility experienced in the last seven days.

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