The derailment of a train without passengers at the Barcelona-Sants station has forced to interrupt traffic from early Friday morning more than a dozen standard gauge trains, which are used by high-speed trains, as well as the Avant and Euromed services, are affected. In addition to Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo trains are also affected. According to Adif, the railway infrastructure manager, the problem is causing delays of up to an hour in services.
Due to an incident in the infrastructure, the circulation of standard gauge trains from Barcelona Sants is interrupted. Adif staff is working to resolve this incident as soon as possible.
— INFOAdif (@InfoAdif) September 13, 2024
According to sources from Adif who have informed EFE, the incident occurred at 06.35 hours and, since then, technicians from the railway infrastructure manager have been working to resolve it, although it is expected to be resolved shortly. The incident has affected trains that run on the standard gauge, which are mainly high-speed trains, both long-distance and Avant, but where other services also run, such as the Euromed, which connects Barcelona with Valencia.
Following the first cancellations, hundreds of passengers have lined up outside the ticket offices of Renfe, Ouigo and Iryo. Andrea Pascassé, a passenger on Iryo, had bought a ticket to Madrid at 8.15am. “Half an hour before departure, they told me that there would be a 30-minute delay. When the train was due to leave, they announced that someone would come to pick us up at midday to sort out the situation. I am waiting for a refund because I am going to miss my flight that leaves Madrid for Caracas at three in the afternoon,” she says.
Sources from Iryo have confirmed that the affected trains are those that had their departure point at Sants station. “The only ones that have been able to leave are those coming from Madrid or Seville and that passed through Barcelona.” Renfe has communicated that at 09.00 hours they have a total of 9 trains that have not been able to leave the depots to provide service. Meanwhile, the station is accumulating hundreds of passengers waiting for the situation to normalise. The Generalitat has activated the Ferrocat pre-alert due to the accumulation of passengers.
Adif has stated that, although train traffic has been restored, the incident persists at the entrance to the Can Tunis depot, where Renfe stores its rolling stock, which cannot yet leave.
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