A commuter train collided with a construction crane in southeastern Spain on Thursday (22 January), injuring several passengers, days after a high-speed rail disaster in Andalusia killed at least 43 people.
The latest crash occurred on Thursday in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, when a FEVE commuter train operating on the Cartagena–Los Nietos line struck a crane in the Alumbres area. Spain’s state broadcaster TVE reported that several people were injured, though emergency services later confirmed that three passengers suffered minor injuries and none were in a serious condition.
Spain’s railway infrastructure operator Adif said rail traffic on the line was suspended after the crane encroached on the railway’s clearance area.
“Traffic is interrupted due to the invasion of the infrastructure’s clearance by a crane unrelated to railway operations,” Adif said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
Officials added that the train neither derailed nor overturned.
The incident comes just days after Sunday’s catastrophic high-speed train crash in Adamuz, Córdoba, in the southern region of Andalusia.
That collision left at least 43 people dead and 123 injured, six of them seriously, making it one of Spain’s deadliest rail disasters in recent years. Recovery operations remain under way at the site, with crews continuing to remove wreckage while investigators search for any remaining victims.
On Wednesday, Spain’s Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, acknowledged the “undeniable possibility” that marks found on the train’s wheels may have been caused by a defect in the tracks, as the investigation into the Córdoba crash continues.
Rail safety concerns deepened further on Tuesday night in Catalonia, when a train accident in Gelida, northeast Spain, killed a train driver and injured 37 passengers.
As a result, services on the Rodalies commuter rail network remain suspended on Thursday.
The AP-7 motorway southbound is also closed for 22 kilometres between Martorell and Vilafranca while crews remove the train and secure the track.
Train drivers have announced strike action for 9, 10 and 11 February, demanding stronger safety measures and improved infrastructure maintenance amid growing public concern over Spain’s rail network.
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