Large crowds and queues at Sant Boi station a day after derailment kills driver

Commuters traveling from the Sant Boi de Llobregat train station, just outside Barcelona, on Tuesday morning were met with crowds and long lines to get on the buses that will have to take them to Molí Nou until the rail service, interrupted by a derailment that killed a train operator and injured over 80 people on Monday evening, resumes.

The 83 people who suffered minor injuries in the incident have already been treated and discharged. The eight people that were hospitalized have been released, the Catalan government spokesperson confirmed.

Commuters were accepting of the delays on Tuesday morning. "I’ll probably be late to work, but I think my boss will be understanding," one passenger told the Catalan News Agency.

"This affects my commute, but there’s nothing we can do about it," another said.

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC), the Catalan government-owned railway operator, which suffered its first fatal accident since it first began to provide this service, will use cranes to remove the derailed trains in order to restore the line "in the coming hours."

Two large cranes are being employed while rail workers have also been clearing the track in order to resume normal service as soon as possible.

FGC sources told ACN that the condition of the tracks will also have to be checked before the trains can run again.

Investigation

As for the causes of the accident, the company and the Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra are conducting an investigation to try to determine why the train derailed at a point where there were no known existing problems, according to FGC.

Company president, Marta Subirà, told the media that all the data has to be analyzed in detail.

One passenger on the replacement bus service, however, who normally takes the train but wasn't on the service that derailed, said "every day I see the freight train which was involved in the collision, and I always think it's all over the place."

The courts in Sant Boi de Llobregat have also opened a case and is currently awaiting information from the Mossos d'Esquadra investigation.

The CCOO trade union called for a "fair" investigation that respects the "privacy and reputation" of affected workers. 

City pays respects

Sant Boi de Llobregat council held a minute's silence on Tuesday afternoon in memory of the driver killed in the train accident.

"We are deeply affected as a city by the loss of a human life and by everything an accident like this brings on a social and emotional level," mayor Lluïsa Moret said.

She called for services to be restored as soon as possible "with all safety guarantees."