The investigation into the train crash in Sant Boi focuses on clarifying whether there was damage to the track

The investigation to discover the causes of the clash between two trains in Sant Boi del Llobregat this Monday focuses on finding out if the tracks managed by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC) were damaged or in poor condition.

The accident resulted in the death of a train driver and more than 80 people injured, and the section where the passenger convoy collided with a freight loaded with potash was affected by a temporary speed limit (LTV), an exceptional signage that requires circulate at a maximum of 30 kilometers per hour, half of what is usual on that branch.

The Mossos d'Esquadra and the Sant Boi Investigating Court 5 have opened an investigation and the judge, accompanied by the prosecutor and a coroner, inspected the scene to gather evidence.

The Labor Inspectorate has also opened proceedings.

Ferrocarrils confirmed that speed was restricted on the section of the crash and highlighted that the measure responds to work to “remove ballast”.

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Sources close to the group of train drivers point out that the dysfunction in that section of the Llobregat-Anoia line was not new, but that the state of the track had been interfering with train traffic for days.

As reported by the radio station

, the drivers had alerted the FGC technicians of the problems that the section presented.

The company declined to comment on the alleged warnings given by the workers.

Marta Subirà, president of FGC, declared that, for now, it is necessary to “analyze if the speed was correct and if the load was also correct.

Now we cannot determine it ”she assured, placing the conclusions to the investigation that is underway.

The Mossos d'Esquadra have already begun the task of analyzing the black box of the two trains and, in addition, they are viewing the images from the exterior and interior security cameras to reconstruct the moments prior to the collision.

The train accident in Sant Boi del Llobregat is the most serious incident in the 43-year history of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC).

The death of Albert, the engineer who was at the controls of the passenger train that collided with a freight, has caused a deep commotion among his colleagues.

He was a young professional, 29 years old, who joined FGC in 2019. He first worked as a station agent and, as soon as a promotion came out, he enlisted to join the train drivers' corps.

1,500 people work at FGC.

The average age of the staff is 44 years and the average seniority of the workers in the company is 16 years.

"The accident was inevitable," say sources from the Semaf union, the group that protects train drivers in Spain.

"He had no chance to brake in time to avoid impact,"

The train piloted by Albert was loaded with a hundred passengers.

He had left the Sant Boi de Llobregat station behind and, around six in the afternoon, as he rounded a curve, he came across a convoy loaded with potash.

"What he could see was that the merchandise was stopped, when he realized that there were derailed wagons it was already late," they judge from Semaf.

Despite traveling at an abnormally low speed, the braking distance of a loaded train is not less than 300 meters.

The unknowns focus on the causes that caused the derailment of the freight train wagons.

“If the ballast was being worked on, it is easy to think that there was some problem with the camber or that the track widened under the weight of the goods,” reason sources familiar with the railway infrastructure.

Ballast is the stones that fill the gaps between the rails and sleepers.

They play a fundamental role in giving solidity to the infrastructure and avoiding the sinking of the platform.

The representative of the CCOO union in Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat, Ricard Beumala, demanded that "when the causes" of the accident are known, responsibilities be settled.

Beumala assures that the union will be "very attentive" to the process of investigating the causes of the crash.

Beumala explained that the potash wagons weigh less than the locomotive and that makes them more unstable on the track.

“This is an area where the trains were going little by little.

We are waiting for the result of the investigation to find out why the wagon derailed”, explained Jordi Puigneró, vice president of the Generalitat and head of the Ministry of Territory, the portfolio on which FGC depends.

"Fortunately, the speed of the trains was reduced, otherwise the consequences would have been even worse," said the Government spokeswoman, Patrícia Plaja,

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