Traffic on the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed line resumed at around 20:30 yesterday, following the fire in the rear power car of set 100-017 at Ricla. The set was working the 14:27 AVE Madrid–Figueres. Delays are continuing, however, because the failed unit has yet to be removed.
After confirming that it was safe to run over the adjacent track, Adif reopened the affected section under single-line working between Ricla and Plasencia de Jalón. A maximum speed of 80 km/h applies, with some stretches worked on sight, while the train is recovered and damage to the infrastructure is repaired. To limit the impact, Renfe is coupling services together and running them in multiple formation.
At the time of publication, delays ranged from one hour to two and a half hours. No timescale has been given for restoring two-track operation, which is needed before normal service can begin to recover.
According to Renfe, the disruption affected 33 trains: 18 were unable to depart from their origin and 14 were held at stations. The operator puts the number of affected passengers at 12,979, although this does not include Iryo and Ouigo customers, who were also hit by the closure. There is no official combined figure. Some media outlets report more than 20,000 passengers and more than 40 trains across the three operators.
There were no injuries, as the driver was in the leading power car and the fire did not reach the passenger coaches. Renfe successfully evacuated all 283 passengers and transported them to their destinations by coach.