Delays remain on the high-speed line between Barcelona and Madrid after a train fire

BarcelonaThe railway chaos caused by a high-speed train fire continues this Tuesday morning. Train circulation resumed yesterday, after being stopped all afternoon, but trains can only run on a single track in a specific section in Aragon, a fact that greatly complicates the mobility of the trains and the more than 11,000 passengers affected yesterday.

The blockade began yesterday, Monday afternoon, coinciding with the return operation of the Pilar long weekend. The high-speed line between Barcelona and Madrid was cut off for practically the entire afternoon, from four to eight in the evening, due to a fire in a train in Aragon. At night, the line returned to operation but the resumption was slow and on a single track between the stations of Ricla and Plasencia de Jalón, in Aragon. It will be like this until the affected train is completely removed. At Sants station, for example, travelers who were supposed to leave at 17:30 were called by public address system around 20:30. Renfe announced that its trains (the blockade also affected Iryo and Ouigo passengers) would return to circulation starting at 23:00 hours this Sunday.

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 left 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 at some stations such as 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 early in the 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 following 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 started sounding inside the train. "We realized there was quite a lot of smoke and the rear cabin was burning. Luckily, it wasn't a passenger carriage," commented Barberan. Passengers moved to forward carriages and several doors were opened, but the height above the track prevented people from jumping 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 PM, some of the passengers from the AVE affected by the fire were already able to board a bus and be transported 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 measures to assist affected travelers, including the possibility of making changes and ticket refunds free of charge.

Finally, however, Adif technicians were able to inspect the catenary once the Zaragoza Provincial Fire Department declared the fire extinguished. The inspection ruled out major damage and allowed trains to circulate 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 has 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.