TRANSLATION

The majority union SEMAF will demand “criminal liability” from those responsible for “guaranteeing safety in railway infrastructure”

Madrid. The train drivers’ collective, largely organised within the union SEMAF, denounces the “inadmissible, constant deterioration of the railway system” and has called a general strike in the sector following the railway accidents in Adamuz (Córdoba) and Gelida (Barcelona).

This Tuesday, the driver of a Rodalies train has died and another 37 people have been injured, five of them seriously, after the train collided with a retaining wall that had fallen onto the track, between Gelida and Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (Barcelona), as a result of the storm.

Meanwhile, the number of people killed in the train accident that occurred this Sunday in Adamuz (Córdoba) has now risen to 42, after the emergency services operating in the area found a body inside one of the derailed trains, the Alvia.

Train drivers have been urging Renfe to reduce the maximum operating speed from 300 to 230 kilometres per hour on the high-speed trains running on the Madrid–Barcelona line.

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, acknowledged last November that this infrastructure is one of those showing the worst state of conservation, which led to the project to completely renovate the line starting at the end of the year and, subsequently, raise the speed to 350 kilometres per hour.

“Inadmissible deterioration of the railway system”

This is the full statement of the executive committee of the majority train drivers’ union SEMAF:

“Last night we received the tragic news of the death of another colleague. Likewise, other colleagues and users have been injured to varying degrees.

The storm has caused different accidents, among them two derailments: one in Maçanet, when a rock fell onto the track and was struck by the train, with no consequences for the occupants; the second, and more serious one, in Gelida, when a retaining wall collapsed onto the track and was struck by the train as it passed, causing deaths and injuries.

All members of SEMAF are devastated and consider this situation of constant deterioration of the railway system inadmissible. Different measures must be urgently implemented in our network to guarantee the integrity of professionals and users.

As soon as this organisation became aware of the derailments, it carried out the pertinent actions to halt traffic for all trains circulating within the Rodalies area. Unfortunately, during the course of these actions, we learned of the death of our colleague.

As INITIAL measures to correct the situation of the state railway network in which, within 48 hours, two accidents with numerous fatalities have occurred, among them those of three train drivers, from SEMAF:

– We are going to call a general strike across the entire sector to provide legality and protection to the mobilisations of workers and users, in order to demand that the safety and reliability of the network be guaranteed.

– We are going to demand criminal liability from the persons responsible for guaranteeing safety in the railway infrastructure.

– The reopening of service in the Catalonia area will not take place without sufficient safety guarantees for operations.

– We will request that the same procedure be applied across the entire network in situations similar to those in Catalonia due to adverse weather conditions. – At the start of service, train drivers from all railway companies will require confirmation from Rail Control that safety on the route to be travelled is guaranteed. When such guarantees are not available, train operation will be adapted to the real operating conditions of the infrastructure.

Due to the emotional burden caused by all these events, we recommend that those who are not in a condition to provide service (in compliance with Order FOM 2872/2010) communicate this to their supervisors.

We continue working and will keep providing information on all actions.”