BarcelonaThe railway chaos due to the fire on a high-speed train continues this Tuesday morning. Train circulation resumed yesterday, after being halted all afternoon, but trains can only run on a single track in a specific section in Aragon, which greatly complicates the mobility of the trains and the more than 11,000 passengers affected yesterday.
The blockage began yesterday, Monday afternoon, coinciding with the return operation for the Pilar long weekend. The high-speed line between Barcelona and Madrid was cut for almost the entire afternoon, from four until eight in the evening, due to a fire on a train in Aragon. At night, the line returned to service, but the resumption was slow and on a single track between the stations of Ricla and Plasencia de Jalón, in Aragon. This will remain the case until the affected train is completely removed. At Sants station, for example, passengers who were supposed to leave at 17:30 were called over the PA system around 20:30. Renfe announced that its trains (the blockage also affected Iryo and Ouigo passengers) would return to circulation starting at 23:00 on this Monday.
The situation has affected, in total, about 40 trains and more than 11,000 passengers, counting about 5,000 affected from the 14 trains managed by Renfe, about 4,450 more from those operated by Iryo, and about 2,000 more from Ouigo. These are people who were trapped inside trains yesterday or waiting for hours and hours at stations. The damaged train was an AVE (from the operator Renfe) that suffered a fire in one of the cabins and forced the evacuation of the almost 300 passengers it was carrying on board, near Zaragoza. The situation in some stations like Atocha, Sants, or Zaragoza –where they are celebrating the Pilar festivities– was especially complicated.
The deputy general director of Renfe, Sergio Bueno, assured yesterday that the train complied "scrupulously" with the scheduled inspections. For the moment, he states that they do not know the cause of the fire and that they are investigating it.
The first official notice from Renfe was in the early afternoon. In the statement, the operator explained that an AVE train left Madrid-Puerta de Atocha at 14:27 hours bound for Figueres, but around 16:05 h, near Ricla, in Zaragoza, a fire was detected in the tail cabin. Following the protocol, Renfe reports, the 283 passengers on board were evacuated, with no injuries reported. According to the government of Aragon, the incident occurred at kilometer point 255 and a woman and a person with reduced mobility required medical assistance. The Zaragoza Provincial Council firefighters extinguished the fire, which affected the train's locomotive and the nearest part of the next carriage. Now Adif has been able to check the damage to the catenary.
"Luckily it was not a passenger carriage"
Natàlia Barberan, a resident of Porqueres, was traveling on the affected train and explained to the ACN that, after passing Calatayud, an alarm began to sound inside the train. "We realized there was a lot of smoke and the tail cabin was burning. Luckily it was not a passenger car," commented Barberan. Passengers moved to forward cars and several doors were opened, but the height above the tracks prevented people from being able to jump off the train safely. "My brother-in-law has been carrying everyone in his arms and now we are in the middle of a field," she explains.
"Luckily, there were no injuries. Only one person had a panic attack and another had a migraine attack," specified Barberan, who thanked the work of local residents and Red Cross volunteers. "We see two buses about two kilometers away, but they cannot get close here because there are no roads," lamented the resident of Pla de l'Estany. "Now we are forming a human chain to take all the suitcases off the train and waiting for news from the Civil Guard," continued Barberan. At 7:45 p.m., part of the passengers of the AVE affected by the fire were already able to board a bus and be transferred to Zaragoza.
Initial uncertainty
Initially, the deputy general director of Renfe, Sergio Bueno, acknowledged that he could not specify when the high-speed service would resume because they were waiting for Adif to check the damage caused to the infrastructure. The main fear was that the catenary had been severely affected and that circulation could not be restarted until Tuesday. In fact, Renfe began diverting trains to other stations and was already preparing an alternative bus service to several points. The operator itself also activated assistance measures for affected travelers, including the possibility of making ticket changes and refunds free of charge.
Finally, however, Adif technicians were able to inspect the catenary once the Zaragoza Provincial Firefighters declared the fire extinguished. The inspection ruled out major damage and allowed trains to run partially while waiting for the burnt train to be removed.
Despite this, Sants station suffered crowding yesterday. "We have been waiting for a long time and they haven't given us much information, our train doesn't appear, and we should already be at home resting," complained Veronica Garcés, a Peruvian tourist who wants to return to Madrid after spending the day in Barcelona. The incident also affected high-speed rail in Girona, with passengers like Llorenç who were already looking for "alternatives" yesterday so as not to have to wait until 11 p.m., the estimated time for the resumption of several affected trains.
Morning of incidents also on Rodalies
The R2, R2 North, and R11 Rodalies lines are also experiencing delays this Tuesday that may exceed 25 minutes due to an act of vandalism at the level crossing in Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona), as reported by Rodalies.
On the R3 line, there is rail service between La Garriga (Barcelona) and Puigcerdà (Girona), and alternative road service from Ripoll to Puigcerdà and from Fabra i Puig (Barcelona) to Puigcerdà (Girona).
On the R13 and R14 lines, there is rail service between Lleida and Les Borges Blanques (Lleida), and between La Plana-Picamoixons (Tarragona) and Barcelona-Estació de França, while alternative road service is offered between Lleida and La Plana-Picamoixons (Tarragona).
