High-speed train service resumes after wire failure halts operations in Barcelona

A wire failure at Barcelona Sants train station early Saturday morning brought all high-speed train services to a standstill. A train operated by the French company Ouigo stopped inside the tunnel as it was leaving the station, forcing the evacuation of 403 passengers, who had to walk along the tracks, according to Catalan civil protection authorities.

Hours later, around 11:00 am, Spain's public rail operator, Adif, announced that operations resumed, however over hour-long delays were reported.

Earlier in the morning, Adif stated that the incident "had left tracks 1, 2, and 3 without power," affecting "all high-speed and medium-distance trains, which are now stranded at the stations."

Shortly before 8:45 a.m., trains began operating again, but only on a single track between Sants station and El Prat de Llobregat. Hours later, operations used all available tracks.

Passengers faced many delays surpassing the one-hour in average after the Ouigo train, which was scheduled to depart Barcelona at 6:31 a.m. and arrive in Madrid at 9:16 a.m., lost power inside the tunnel.

All high-speed train operators—Renfe, Ouigo, and Iryo—were affected between 6:30 a.m. and 8:40 a.m.

One of the affected passengers waiting in Sants was Oriol Salvadó, field hockey player from Sant Cugat del Vallès. He, and his team, were traveling to Madrid to play a game on Saturday midday.

"We do not know if we will be on time," he said as they still not "know the planned scheduled or when we will be able to depart."

Javier Villanueva, who had to be in Zaragoza early on Saturday, highlighted that "until I did not find any customer service staff, I was not fully aware of what was going on, but it seemed they did neither."

Villanueva told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that it had been a while since he last traveled by train and joked that all the things he has read on news outlets is now "happening to me."

Among the Ouigo passengers, there was X user Marc Beà who criticized Ouigo's service for "not having any customer service at the station and a hotline saying 'it is not our fault'." The passenger also questioned why they were "being charged for a service that was not offered," while their weekend "was destroyed."

Around 2 pm, another incident was reported on the high-speed network, this time between Barcelona and Mollet del Vallès impacting trains going to Girona.

According to Catalan civil protection, there had been an issue with one of the repairing units, which forced two high-speed trains to stop service.

Government meeting on Sunday

During the morning, Catalan territory minister Sílvia Paneque, announced that the government will hold an "urgent" meeting with the Spanish ministry and Adif in Barcelona to look for "immediate solutions" to the never-ending Catalan rail disruptions.

Paneque also highlighted that the regional government has had part in the management since 2010, and that regional authorities have had "responsibility on the service for the last years," she told ACN.

With those statements, the minister was tackling one of the main complaints filed by Catalan pro-independence parties regarding the lack of investment and the request for a full transfer of management to regional authorities.

One of the main reasons behind such service, is that the network is prepared to accommodate around six million inhabitants, while Catalonia is currently home to eight million people.

"Regarding the latest incidents, we have requested a meeting with the highest ranking officials at Spain's ministry, Adif and Renfe to look up for immediate solutions as we need answers and clear improvements from Monday," Paneque told ACN during a visit to the seaside town of Palamós, in the Costa Brava.

Rodalies on Friday

The incident occurred around 24 hours after another wire failure caused a similar issue on the Rodalies commuter train network on Friday.

At the time, the Catalan president, Salvador Illa, admitted that this type of incident "is not acceptable" and assured that the government "is focused on solutions, not controversies."

The issue forced trains to operate on a single track between Barcelona Sants station and El Prat de Llobregat. As a result, the lines R14, R15, R16 and R17 ran with delays of at least half an hour on Friday afternoon.