UPDATE (11.45am) – Sitges Town Council has said that a limited service has now been restored on the line between Vilanova and Garraf (see Tweet below). ‘Only one track is in operation and the frequency will be two trains per hour in each diretcion. The bus service will be maintained until the line is fully restored.’
Original full report:
The trainline between Vilanova and Garraf continued to be interrupted in both directions on Wednesday following the derailment of a Talgo train without passengers in Sitges on Tuesday, for reasons that are still unknown.
The incident, which occurred on the morning of 15 August, caused several carriages to come off the track at the area of Calle Sant Honorat in Sitges, in Les Cases Noves, leaving the engine carriage unattached from the rest of the wagons.
On Wednesday work was continuing to restore the train service of the R2 Sud line between Garraf and Vilanova as soon as possible, but the company involved has not given any exact date or time for when a full service can resume again, due to the complexity of returning the carriages to the tracks in order to withdraw them.
ADIF reported that during Tuesday night’s maintenance work, the axles of the derailed carriages were being ‘re-tracked’ and that they were continuing to repair the damage caused to the infrastructure in order to restore circulation, initially on one of the two tracks.
For this reason RENFE has decided to expand the alternative service that it initiated on Tuesday, with 14 buses, up to 24 journeys daily, at a time of maximum influx of visitors to the area using the Rodalies service between Garraf and Vilanova stations.
For the trains of the South R2 and the local regional trains, a rail service has been established between Barcelona and Garraf, while a train service has also been established between Vilanova and in the direction south. Sitges station, however, remains closed.
On Tuesday, a national holiday, numerous complaints were registered by users, claiming that the alternative bus service was insufficient and that the company had not properly informed those affected. The queues in front of the various bus stops were particularly long. The complaints continued on Wednesday, with many users complaining of a lack of information and poor organisation to deal with the situation on a weekday.
🚆Es restableix la circulació de trens entre Vilanova i Garraf.
🛤️De moment, només hi ha una via en funcionament i la freqüència de pas serà de dos trens per hora i sentit.
🚌El servei d'autobusos es mantindrà fins al restabliment complet. pic.twitter.com/BZQBiP710A
— Ajuntament de Sitges (@AjSitges) August 16, 2023
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