More details are beginning to be known about the train derailment in the tunnel that connects the Madrid stations of Atocha and Chamartín. An event that falls into the “serious” category and is being investigated by the Railway Accident Investigation Commission. The file shows that two companies are involved, Adif Alta Velocity and Renfe. With a nuance, because it explains that “the data” that “appear” in file 108/2024 “are those initially collected and can be modified in the investigation process.”
The document reports that “train 97015 left La Sagra”, in Toledo, “destined for the Fuencarral workshops. It was made up of two units of the series 114 high-speed regional train: the first unit was towing the second, which was damaged” and that “the train crew was made up of a driver and two maintenance technicians.”
It also indicates that the accident occurred at 4:20 p.m. last Saturday, October 19, and that there was no personal injury of any kind.
“The train circulated through the high-speed tunnel from Atocha to Chamartín, but at the entrance to the Chamartín station the lead unit (tug) suffered a traction failure that prevented it from going up the entrance ramp to the station (about 30 thousandths)”, he points out.
“To overcome the ramp, the engineer and the command post agreed that the train would go backwards to gain momentum from a flatter section,” he explains, and “while this maneuver was being prepared, the damaged train unit (the towed one) came loose from its position. hitch and began to drift down the tunnel without brakes, without battery and with the two technicians on board,” he lists.
Two technicians escaped “safe and sound”
“After more than four kilometers of drifting through the tunnel (with slopes of between 12 and 30 thousandths), the unit arrived at high speed at the Botanical Garden triage post, where it was changed from track No. 1 to No. 2.” , he points out. “On the next curve after the track change, the unit derailed and went off on a tangent, colliding with the tunnel wall. The first three cars of the unit (in the direction of drift) overturned, while the fourth remained derailed, but in an upright position. After sliding some distance losing speed, the unit stopped at approximately gauge 7,000. The two maintenance technicians who were aboard the train were able to escape safely after it stopped. There were no fatalities or serious injuries, but there was serious damage, both to the accident unit and to the tunnel infrastructure,” he concludes.
This event falls into the category of “serious accident” in accordance with the regulations governing the investigation of railway accidents, explains this file, which is in its first phase. It evaluates it this way “by the amount of damage caused and its effect on safety management. In accordance with the same regulations, a technical investigation into this event must be carried out on a mandatory basis.”
The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, indicated on Tuesday that the derailment was caused by one of the Adif workers to “avoid any risk” at the station and prevent it from “eventually” colliding with another oncoming train.
“The train that was being towed breaks free from the train that was towing it and begins a journey, in a kind of free fall, through the Chamartín tunnel. A worker at the Adif control center makes the decision to divert it to one of the tracks to prevent it from ending up on the tracks that enter the quagmire and potentially colliding with an oncoming train,” said Puente.
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