On October 19, a Renfe train that was being towed to the workshops derailed in a tunnel between Chamartín and Atocha stations, an incident that paralyzed the high-speed train between Madrid and Valencia for several days. A month later, This convoy has not yet been withdrawn by Adif and Renfe.
Why hasn’t it been deleted? For two reasons. The first is that in recent weeks the efforts of public companies have focused on the consequences of DANA in Valencia.
“The priority is to assess the damage caused to the Madrid-Valencia high-speed line,” sources from the infrastructure manager said days after October 29, when DANA destroyed Valencia’s railway infrastructure. Indeed, the work of Adif in the area has made it possible to restore rail traffic since November 14.
Just a day before DANA, Adif and Renfe announced that they would remove the derailed train “imminently” and at night to ensure as little impact as possible on passengers and that planned high-speed services can operate normally.
However, this withdrawal was not so imminent. Sources from the infrastructure manager assure that “They are working on it” and that “they have not stopped doing it despite what happened in Valencia”. While this is true, they acknowledge that some safety issues and the loading of machines onto the tracks have been delayed by “days” for this reason.
Of the two public companies, It is Renfe which takes the lead and coordinates the entire plan. since it belongs to the public company of the convoy which derailed. From Renfe they confirm that “preliminary work has already started and most of the sectioning and dismantling of the train will begin soon.”
It should be remembered that the incident in this tunnel forced Renfe to cancel 22 trains, which affected 18,800 passengers. For its part, Ouigo canceled 13 trains, affecting 5,900 passengers, while Iryo suspended six and recorded 18 with delays of more than 60 minutes, according to data provided by the various operators to this newspaper.
Adif and Renfe plan
The second reason why the train is still in the tunnel This is because of the complexity of the work. To free the track concerned, the plan designed by Adif and Renfe provides for the section of the train in several pieces, which will be gradually extracted from the tunnel.
This operation represents an unprecedented technical and logistical effort in the railway sector. It was designed to restore the operation of the affected roads as quickly as possible, prioritizing the safety of passengers and personnel involved.
Due to the complexity of these tasks, neither the railway company nor the infrastructure manager can confirm When will the work started weeks ago be finished?
At the same time, the investigation by the Commission for the Investigation of Rail Accidents (CIAF) continues, which described the accident as “serious”. In addition, it is feared that the recording device of the derailed train may not have been activated. We are talking about a kind of black box like that of planes which allows information such as the speed or the route taken by the convoy to be known.
