A commuter train driver dies when a retaining wall collapses on a train in Gelida.

San Sadurní de Anoia / BarcelonaA commuter train driver died Tuesday night and at least 37 people were injured, four of them seriously, when a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks and an R4 line train halfway between Gelida and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, as confirmed by ARA. Sources close to the emergency response explain that the driver was in training. Following the accident, Adif has announced the suspension of all commuter train service for Wednesday morning, at least between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m., with no estimated time for service to resume. The Catalan Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, has reported that commuter rail service in Catalonia will not be restored until the entire network is confirmed safe at a crisis meeting at the operational coordination center scheduled for 9:30 a.m. This was explained by the government spokesperson from the command center established for the train accident in Gelida, where a train on the R4 line collided with a wall that had collapsed onto the tracks, resulting in one fatality.

Based on the conclusions of the inspections to be carried out in the early hours of the morning, a decision will be made regarding whether or not the commuter rail service will resume. These evaluations, known as trial runs, consist of running safety trains, without passengers, to check the condition of the network.

After 1:00 AM, there is no service on the network, and alternative transport is being activated for passengers at Barcelona's Sants station. Hours earlier, there was another derailment on the RG1 line, between Blanes and Maçanet, after a train struck a rock, causing no injuries. Both incidents prompted Adif to suspend all commuter rail service until technicians inspect the entire infrastructure and remove all obstacles that have fallen in recent hours.

Investigation underway

The investigation into the causes of the accident in Gelida is now in the hands of the central airport unit of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and is being led by the presiding judge of Court Number Three of the Vilafranca del Penedès Court of First Instance (Alt Penedès). The judge and the rest of the judicial team traveled to the scene of the accident tonight to recover the body of the deceased and gather initial information.

For now, the leading hypothesis regarding the accident on the R4 line is that the retaining wall collapsed due to the recent heavy rains and struck the first carriage of the train, according to Paneque, who spoke from the scene. Adif, the Spanish railway infrastructure manager, indicated that the wall may have collapsed as a result of the storm currently affecting Catalonia. The head of the Fire Department's intervention unit, Claudi Gallardo, stated that the origin of the landslide cannot yet be confirmed, but that a collapse likely occurred and the wall struck the first carriage, leaving it deformed. Joan Carles Salmeron, director of the Terminus CET Transport Studies Center, also explained to ARA that incidents involving retaining walls that hold back the earth closest to the tracks are becoming increasingly frequent throughout the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula due to the accompanying storms. In fact, in November 2018, Another retaining wall has already collapsed onto the commuter rail tracks in Vacarisses.causing another fatal accident. On that occasion, a man died as a result of the collision, dozens of people were injured, and the train derailed completely.

Among those affected are five seriously injured, 26 with minor injuries, and 17 people who have been discharged. in situFurthermore, some of the passengers affected by the accident were able to leave the train on their own. While emergency teams attend to the injured, the transfer of those who escaped injury to a safe area in the Torelló cellars, where a field hospital has been set up, is being managed. The accident occurred near a residential area called Casablanca, and a space has been designated for family members at the Civic Center located on Moreres Street. Renfe has also activated the telephone number 900 101 660 to assist the families of the victims.

Firefighters shore up the wall

Emergency services are currently working from an advanced coordination center set up on the esplanade in front of the Sant Sadurní d'Anoia Primary Care Center (CAP). Firefighters deployed approximately seventy personnel, who shored up the retaining wall and the train to stabilize them. Among the personnel working on the ground are specialists from the search and rescue team and the collapsed structures team, who had to extricate one person trapped inside the train. They also established a safety zone and evacuated the injured so that paramedics could treat them.

The mayor of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Pere Vernet, explained that the train was traveling south, having departed from Sant Vicenç de Calders, and was stopped due to a wall collapse in a difficult-to-access area halfway to Gelida. The injured were taken to the hospitals of Bellvitge (where three seriously injured were evacuated), Moisès Broggi (six with less serious injuries), and Vilafranca (with eight affected). The train accident generated 28 calls to the 112 emergency number. Around forty officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) are also working in the area, including Citizen Security Units and the Regional Operational Resources Area (ARRO). Authorities asked people to stay away from the area where the emergency teams are working. The Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, has traveled to the scene of the accident; The Catalan Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Silvia Paneque; and the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, were present. The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, who remains hospitalized, is in contact with him and is following the train accident in Gelida "closely," according to sources within the Catalan Government. Parlon confirmed the number of injured and declined to comment on the identity of the deceased out of respect for the family. Regarding the cause of the accident, she stated that one of the walls gave way and altered the train's trajectory. Similarly, Paneque added that "the most likely hypothesis is that the wall collapsed due to the recent rains." The R4 derailment in Gelida is not the only one that occurred tonight in Catalonia. On the R1 line, between Blanes and Maçanet de la Selva, another train derailed due to rocks on the track. All indications are that these were rocks washed down by the storm that has battered the region since this morning. However, no one was injured in the incident. As a result, the R1 line experienced delays, and the R11 line was suspended.

Reaction from the Semaf union

The train drivers' union Semaf has also asked Renfe and train drivers to suspend service "until further notice" due to the "numerous incidents" affecting the infrastructure throughout the day. "We ask those who are mid-journey to proceed to the station with extreme caution and not resume service," they stated. Furthermore, the commuter train accident occurred just two days after the fatal collision between two high-speed trains in Adamuz (Córdoba), where 42 deaths were reported. The Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno Bonilla, lamented the "black week" for the railway sector in a message on X, in which he expressed his solidarity with the victims of Gelida. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, also expressed his "affection and solidarity" with those affected and their families.