Short-distance train network collapses again and may affect 60,000 passengers throughout the day

Barcelona (CNA).- 60 short-distance trains and 25,000 passengers were affected this morning in the Barcelona region by an attempted copper theft and the consequences will continue throughout the day. This criminal act caused several small fires in the railway installations of Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, La Llagosta and Mollet del Vallès, around 20 kilometres away from Barcelona, which led to 30-minute minimum delays on four different lines. Alternative routes and extra buses have been added to guarantee the mobility of these citizens and Renfe, the Spanish public train operator, expects to normalise the system during the day, although there could still be delays for several days to come. This is not the first time that the railway system has collapsed in Catalonia. Today’s chaos is to be added to a long list of problems which have occurred on this network during the last decade, mainly due to the lack of investment in infrastructure by the Spanish Government.

According to the Spanish public company in charge of building and maintaining the railway infrastructure, Adif, the consequences of this Tuesday’s chaos will continue throughout the day and may still affect nearly 60,000 people and 200 trains.

The fires in the railway installations were not serious and were soon extinguished by Catalan fire fighters. However, signposts and other materials were damaged, which caused up to 60-minute delays on four different lines throughout the morning.

When the last major incident on the railway network took place, in October, the Spanish Public Works Minister Ana Pastor apologised to the passengers but noted that 50% of copper and fibre optic thefts happen in Catalonia. “Although there are many security cameras and exploration trains, thousands of people work hard to do these crimes” she admitted and asked for Catalan police, ‘Mossos d’Esquadra’, collaboration.