Two sinkholes on the Rodalies tracks and delays on several lines due to torrential rains

BarcelonaThe effect of the torrential rains this Wednesday night has once again highlighted the weaknesses of the railway network. A circulation stoppage has affected the R2, R2 North, and R11 lines almost all day between Barcelona (Sant Andreu) and Granollers Centre. The reason? The rain caused two new holes to appear in the ground of the tracks, very close to the point where last July a large sinkhole swallowed a crane from the Rodalies construction works, at the height of Vallbona. Circulation resumed this afternoon shortly before 5:30 PM, and trains will progressively recover their usual schedules, as reported by Renfe. For now, the alternative bus service is being maintained.

Due to the storm on Wednesday evening, a movement of stones had caused a hole that affected both railway tracks. According to spokespersons for the infrastructure manager, the heavy rains washed away the ballast (the stones under the tracks) and other materials. Adif repaired the tracks with concrete early in the afternoon and made them available to Renfe. At two in the afternoon, Adif confirmed that it had already opened one of the two tracks. Half an hour later, at 2:30 PM, they added that the second one was also opening. Before carrying passengers again, test runs (without passengers) and the usual circulation and safety checks for these cases were carried out.

In the first moments of the service resumption, there were moments of confusion, as the train convoys were still coexisting with the buses that Renfe had provided during the morning. For example, a group of people who had already boarded one of the trains had to get off after being told it was not yet working, and they were directed towards the buses. Once they were there, however, a Renfe employee announced that the train was indeed working, and the users were made to get off the bus again to be directed back towards the carriages. In these first moments of the resumption, users were experiencing delays of up to half an hour in the service.

Apart from this new incident, the network is dragging other problems such as delays and speed restrictions derived from the rains. At this time, "punctual" low speeds are still maintained in points such as the R4, where additionally there has also been a new copper theft, between Castellbisbal and Molins de Rei. All of this meant that the delays remained at an average of about 30 minutes throughout the morning.

The operator Renfe also explained that the storm flooded the pits of the Sant Andreu Comtal workshop in the early hours of the morning, which is used as a maintenance base for regional trains. Renfe explained that technicians have been working since early in the morning to drain the accumulated water, check for possible damage, and restore normality "and thus avoid affecting the mid-distance service in the coming days".