Adif and Renfe will remove the train without passengers that derailed last Saturday, October 19, in the high-speed tunnel between the Atocha and Chamartín stations (Madrid), in pieces and at night to avoid interruptions in circulation. To free the affected track, the plan designed by both public companies includes the sectioning of the train into several pieces, which will be extracted from the tunnel progressively, according to Europa Press.
“This operation, which represents an unprecedented technical and logistical effort in the railway field, has been designed to restore the operation of the affected tracks in the shortest possible time, prioritizing, at the same time, the safety of the passengers and the personnel involved. “, defend both companies in a statement.
Sources from the sector consulted explain that the Renfe relief brigade will be in charge of these tasks and, subsequently, it will be the Adif incident brigade that will act on the damaged infrastructure. The initial forecast of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility was to withdraw the train last weekend, with specific cuts in circulation, returning the Levante trains to leave and arrive in Atocha instead of Chamartín, as usual.
However, last Thursday, Adif and Renfe sources assured that circulation was not going to be interrupted during the weekend, so the train was not going to be removed from the tunnel. Now, this new plan will allow the train to be extracted without affecting circulation, neither high-speed nor suburban, as it is carried out at night and over several days.
Research underway
The preliminary accident report has already confirmed that the convoy was “drifting and at high speed” for more than 4 kilometers. The Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAB) has already published the file that will study this accident, in which it briefly explains the events that took place in this high-speed tunnel that connects Chamartín and Atocha.
This is train 97015, which left from La Sagra (Toledo) bound for the Fuencarral workshops (Madrid). It was made up of two units of the series 114 high-speed regional train, the first towing the second, which was damaged, with a crew consisting of a train driver and two maintenance technicians.
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 climbing the entrance ramp to the station (about 30 meters). thousandths).
To overcome the ramp, the engineer and the command post agreed that the train would go backwards to gain momentum from a flatter section. While this maneuver was being prepared, the damaged train unit (the towed one) broke free from its hitch and began to drift down the tunnel without brakes, without a battery and with the two technicians on board.
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 1 to track 2, so , on the next curve after the track change, the unit derailed and went off on a tangent, crashing into the 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 for a certain distance, losing speed, the unit stopped at approximately kilometer point 7,000.
“The two maintenance technicians who were on board 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,” the report notes. This event falls into the category of ‘serious accident’ in accordance with the regulations governing the investigation of railway accidents, due to the amount of damage caused and its effect on safety management.
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