The AP-7 motorway, closed for days between Martorell and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia due to risk of collapse

HelidaThe AP-7 motorway between Martorell and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, southbound, will be closed for "a few days" due to the risk of the retaining wall that collapsed onto the road. R4 train It could end up giving way completely. Early this morning, the Catalan Traffic Service (Servei Català de Trànsit) had already closed 1.5 kilometers of the right lane towards Tarragona as a precaution, but due to the instability of the terrain, the closure was extended to all three lanes on this road that crosses Catalonia from north to south. However, the measure has had consequences for the mobility of many users. Specifically, the A-2, the road to which much of the traffic that usually uses the AP-7 is being redirected, has accumulated up to 18 kilometers of traffic jams between Cornellà de Llobregat and Martorell in the direction of Barcelona due to the closure, according to the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT).

The director of the Catalan Traffic Service, Ramon Lamiel, indicated that the closure was agreed upon in coordination with the Ministry of Transport, which owns the highway, and will be in effect for "a few days," without specifying further, pending a second site assessment on Thursday to refine the timeline. For their part, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) indicated that the restriction will last "as long as necessary." Alternative routes recommended are the C-32, which is toll-free until the commuter rail service resumes, the A-2, the N-340, and the C-15. Access to the south of Gelida was also closed.

Recovery work is expected to begin in the coming hours for the derailed train, located directly above the highway and a few meters from one of the bridges where the railway line crosses the AP-7.

As a result of the accident, the retaining wall of the AP-7 motorway, located directly above the railway line, has collapsed and is resting on the wrecked train. The head of intervention for the Catalan Fire Service, Guillem Amorós, had warned earlier that afternoon that "we will have to be vigilant" in case the ground around the wall holds once the train is removed, since initial visual inspections by technicians have revealed "signs of possible instability." Finally, hours later, it was decided to close the road for approximately nine kilometers, between the old Martorell toll plaza and the Sant Sadurní d'Anoia exit. From that point, vehicles will be able to access the motorway to continue south without restrictions. Furthermore, the closure of this section will also allow technical teams to install a heavy-duty crane for the train removal work. The three lanes heading towards Girona remain open.

The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) have taken over the investigation, under the supervision of a court in Vilafranca del Penedès. Speaking to reporters at the scene of the accident this afternoon, the head of the Catalan police station in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Eduard Barca, explained that it "will take time" to determine the exact causes of the accident. However, he admitted that the most likely hypothesis is that the rain that has fallen in the area in recent days caused the retaining wall to collapse onto the railway line.

The embankment is a concrete wall approximately 50 centimeters wide. It is owned by the Ministry of Bridges and managed by the Directorate General of Highways. Personnel from this agency have also traveled to the accident site with technicians from Adif (the Spanish railway infrastructure manager) and the Mossos d'Esquadra (the Catalan police force) to analyze the condition of the wall and collect evidence and clues that will help piece together the puzzle of the investigation. One of the key pieces will be determining whether the Directorate General of Highways had carried out timely maintenance on the wall and if there could be any liability.

Questions and Answers

From there, several questions arise that the investigation will attempt to answer. With the injured now attended to—all safe—and the body of the young train driver recovered, the priority is securing the area to proceed with removing the train and carrying out the investigation. The train's black box will be key to the investigation, as will the testimony of the affected passengers. The problem is that it may take a few days, because those most seriously injured were traveling in the first carriage, which bore the brunt of the impact. Among the questions to be answered is whether the wall fell onto the train or if it had already fallen onto the tracks before the train passed. Despite the caution of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, explained in statements to TVE (Spanish public television) that the commuter train did not collide with the wall or the debris on the tracks, but rather that "the wall partially fell onto the cab" as the train was passing. Therefore, the minister emphasized that the train driver's chances of avoiding the accident were "zero." In a press conference in Madrid, Puente stated that the technicians' "feeling" was that the wall "partly fell in front of the cab and partly on top of it, as the train passed." Puente also noted that at the time of the impact, there was a speed limit of 60 km/h on that section of track due to roadworks, whereas trains can normally travel at 140 km/h. "If the speed hadn't been 60 km/h, there could have been a much greater tragedy, because the impact would have been transmitted to the rest of the train and would have resulted in many more casualties," he said after expressing his condolences for the death of the young trainee driver. From Gelida, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) admitted that "the most likely hypothesis" is that the recent downpours caused a landslide that led to the wall giving way, but stressed that they must await the results of the investigation.