New incident in Rodalies, the local and medium-distance rail service in Catalonia. An electrical fire on a train in Manlleu (Barcelona) this Tuesday night forced passengers to be evicted in a hurry and disrupted services for a few hours. The affectation aggravates the climate of frustration in recent weeks due to repeated incidents, in particular after the breakdown at the Gavà station (lines R2 and R2 Sud), which sparked a conflict between the Generalitat and Adif.
The fire started around 8 p.m. yesterday at Manlleu station when the train was stopped, probably due to an electrical problem, according to the video posted by a user on social networks. The fire created small electrical explosions that caused one of the overhead wires to collapse.
Rodalies Barcelona, Line R3: Interruption between Manlleu and Ripoll due to an incident in rail operations.
We are working to fix the problem as soon as possible.– INFOAdif (@InfoAdif) May 9, 2023
According to Adif, the passengers had to flee from inside the affected carriage in a hurry and continue their journey by road after the service was disrupted. “Rodalies Barcelona, Line R3: traffic disruption between Manlleu and Ripoll due to an incident in rail operations. “We are working to solve the problem as soon as possible,” Adif warned on his social networks. “An alternative road transport plan has been drawn up between Vic and Torelló,” he added. According to the company, the disruption was fixed this Wednesday morning.
The breakdown further exacerbates the sense of grief felt by passengers who have struggled with constant breakdowns and incidents at Rodalies for years. The last case is the fire in the Gavà signal box, the repairs of which concern the Rodalies (R2 and R2 Sud) and Media Distancia (R13, R14, R15, R16 and R17) lines. According to an estimate by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, 480,000 passengers were affected this year and around 228,000 hours were lost between January and April.
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