Driver dies after train derails in Barcelona due to bad weather

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Heavy rain caused a retaining wall to fall onto the tracks on the local Rodalies line; 37 people were injured, five of them seriously

Miguel G. Casallo

Wednesday, 21 January 2026, 09:00

A train accident in the province of Barcelona on Tuesday night came as a shock to Spain as the country is still recovering from the Adamuz tragedy on Sunday. A Rodalies train - the commuter train service run by the Catalan government - on the R4 line collided shortly before 10pm with a retaining wall that had come loose as a result of the rain and wind affecting much of Catalonia, falling onto the track between Gelida and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia stations. The train driver was killed in the collision.

The train was carrying more than fifty passengers at the time of the impact, 37 of whom had to be assisted by the medical services as they had suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity. Five of the injured are in serious condition, six are less seriously injured and the condition of the other 26 is minor, according to sources from the Generalitat de Catalunya's fire brigade. All were evacuated to the Moisès Broggi, Bellvitge and Vilafranca hospitals.

The head of fire brigade operation, Claudi Gallardo, said that the worst part of the impact was taken by the first carriage of the train, where most of the injuries occurred. According to other sources, in addition to the driver who died, there were two other Renfe workers inside the train, thought to be trainee drivers who were making this journey as part of their professional training. Informal information suggested after midnight that the person killed could have been one of them and not the main driver, although this was not confirmed by the Generalitat.

Train operator Renfe linked the accident to the heavy rainfall and the accumulation of water in the hours prior to the accident, which is what caused the retaining wall to fall onto the track. Several ambulances and 15 fire brigades were sent to the area to attend to the injured and remove obstacles from the track.

Rail traffic suspended

As a result of the accident, Adif, the state body that manages railway infrastructures, tempoprarily suspended traffic on the Rodalies network. The accident in Barcelona was not the only incident on a difficult night on the Catalan railway network.

Almost an hour and a half earlier, at around 8.30pm, another accident forced the closure of the R1 and RG1 local lines after a train derailed when it hit a rock in the province of Gerona, in this case between the towns of Blanes and Maçanet. The train was carrying a dozen passengers, although none of them was injured.

The Catalan government's councillor for territorial affairs and spokesperson, Sílvia Paneque, said on Tuesday night that the Rodalies service will not be resumed throughout Catalonia until railway safety, which has been affected by the consequences of the storm, was guaranteed. To this end, train drivers, accompanied by technicians from Renfe and Adif, were due to run trains without passengers during the night to test the rail network.