A fire in a train leaves more than 11,000 high-speed passengers stranded between Barcelona and Madrid

BarcelonaRailway chaos in the middle of the Pilar bridge return operation. High-speed rail between Barcelona and Madrid was cut off this Monday for practically the entire afternoon, from four until eight in the evening, due to a fire on a train in Aragon. Traffic has been gradually resuming since after eight in the evening, although it is running on a single track between the stations of Ricla and Plasencia de Jalón, in Aragon, until the affected train is removed. At Sants station, for example, passengers scheduled to depart at 17:30 were called over the PA system around 20:30. Renfe expects that all AVE trains stopped at the stations will begin to run from 23:00 this Sunday.

This blockade has affected 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 have been left trapped inside trains or waiting for hours and hours at stations. The reason for this suspension was an AVE train that suffered a fire in one of the cabins, which forced the evacuation of nearly 300 passengers near Zaragoza. The situation at some stations like Atocha, Sants or Zaragoza –where they are celebrating the Pilar festivities– is complicated.

According to Renfe, an AVE train departed from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha at 14:27 hours bound for Figueres, but around 16:05 hours, near Ricla, in Zaragoza, a fire was detected in the tail cabin. Following 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 closest part of the following carriage. Adif has now been able to assess the damage to the overhead lines.

"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 convoy. "We realized there was a lot of smoke and the tail cabin was burning. Luckily it was not a passenger car," commented Barberan. The passengers moved to forward cars and several doors were opened, but the height above the tracks prevented people from jumping off the train properly. "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., some of the passengers of the AVE affected by the fire were able to board a bus and be transferred to Zaragoza.

Initial uncertainty

Initially, Renfe's deputy director general, Sergio Bueno, acknowledged that he could not specify when 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 tomorrow. In fact, Renfe has begun to divert trains to other stations and was already preparing an alternative bus service to various points. The operator itself has also activated measures to assist affected passengers, 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 charred train to be removed.

Despite this, Sants station experienced overcrowding. "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 looking for "alternatives" so they don't have to wait until 11 p.m., the estimated time for several affected trains.