The accident caused by another train derailment, this time in Catalonia. The double accident in Gelida and Massanet, in the province of Barcelona, with one person dead and 31 injured, has cast a shadow over the day. After the tragic Tuesday experienced on the Rodalies network, the Catalan government has confirmed that the suspension of service will continue on Wednesday. The reason is none other than safety: until the “white runs” (test trains without passengers) confirm that the ground is stable, the trains will remain in the depot.
The situation is exceptional and affects some 400,000 users who today have had to find their own way to get to work or school. To alleviate the resulting gridlock on the roads leading into the city, the authorities have taken an emergency measure: the Garraf toll (C-32) will be temporarily free until rail services return to normal.
A black Tuesday on Catalan railways
The cause of this widespread disruption was two almost simultaneous accidents yesterday afternoon. The most serious occurred in Gelida, where a train on the R4 line crashed into a retaining wall that had collapsed onto the track. The collision was fatal for the train driver and left 37 people injured, five of them seriously.
After initially stating that the person killed in the accident was the train driver, Renfe has corrected this and reported that the person killed was another passenger on the train.
At almost the same time, the R1 line suffered another scare between Maçanet-Massanes and Tordera. In this case, rocks falling onto the track caused the train to lose an axle after the impact. Fortunately, the ten passengers traveling on this train were unharmed, but the accumulation of incidents forced Adif and Renfe to take the most drastic decision: to shut down the network until further notice.
The Regional Minister for Territory and spokesperson for the Government, Sílvia Paneque, has been clear about the resumption of service. Following this morning’s meeting of the Catalonia Operational Coordination Center (CECAT), the top priority is the technical report on the condition of the terrain. No trains will carry passengers until there is complete certainty that incidents such as yesterday’s will not be repeated, especially after the heavy rains that have battered the region in recent hours and may have compromised the stability of the embankments.
Transport alternatives and access to Barcelona
Meanwhile, the city is preparing for a difficult day of travel, with private cars and intercity buses as the only real alternatives for crossing the metropolitan area.
If you are one of those who has been left stranded today, remember that the Garraf toll is free of charge as an exceptional measure to channel traffic towards Barcelona along the coast, in an attempt to relieve congestion on the AP-7 and regional roads. However, it is recommended that you avoid any journeys that are not strictly necessary and, if you have to make them, arm yourself with patience and check the Rodalies and Trànsit social media accounts before leaving home.
The forecast is that throughout the day, the least affected lines will gradually reopen, but the R4 and R1 remain the hot spots that will determine when we will see Rodalies trains running normally again in Barcelona.
In this article, we tell you all the detailed alternatives for getting in and out of Barcelona on a day like today.
Train drivers call a general strike
The organization has announced a general strike across the entire sector, warning that they will not allow trains to run again in Catalonia without full and verified safety guarantees.
The union’s position goes beyond labor protests and points directly at the offices, demanding criminal liability for those responsible for maintaining the tracks. In addition, they are calling for the exhaustive inspections being carried out today on the Catalan network to be extended immediately to the entire country to prevent tragedies such as the one in Gelida from happening again.