Torre del Bierzo rail disaster
Encyclopedia
The Torre del Bierzo rail disaster occurred on January 3, 1944 near the village of Torre del Bierzo
in the El Bierzo
region of Spain's León province when three trains collided inside a tunnel. Although officially 78, the death toll at the time was estimated to be 200-250 but studies conducted more recently have estimated the death toll at over 500.
At 20:30 the previous evening the Galicia mail express left Madrid
bound for A Coruña
consisting of 12 carriages hauled by two 4-8-0
'Mastodon' steam locomotives. It was running two hours late when it arrived at Astorga
and was having problems with its brakes; nine minutes being spent at Astorga while they were checked. Later one of the locomotives was removed due to a hot axle box. The train was now three hours late, and had serious problems with its brakes during the steep descent through Branuelas, but the fateful decision was made to continue. The train was scheduled to stop at Albares but failed to do so, despite all hand-brakes on the carriages being applied and sand being applied. The Albares station master immediately telephoned Torre del Bierzo to say that the train had lost its brakes on the steep descent. At Torre del Bierzo the station master ran for his office and attempts were made to put sleepers on the line to slow the runaway train but to no avail as it ran through with its whistle incessantly blowing and its brake shoes applied; heading for tunnel No 20, located just beyond the station.
Meanwhile a shunting engine and three carriages were travelling through the tunnel away from the station having been warned by the station master about the runaway mail train. The last two carriages were still in the tunnel when they were struck by the mail train; as were the first six carriages of the mail train which began to burn, their wood construction being ignited by the train gaslighting.
Oblivious to the tragedy a coal train was approaching the tunnel from the opposite direction with 27 loaded waggons. The crash having destroyed the signaling cables, the signals were set at clear as the coal train left tunnel No 21. The unharmed driver of the shunting engine desperately tried to warn the oncoming coal train which managed to slow, but it still ploughed into the shunting locomotive's train, killing the shunting engine driver and four railwaymen on the coal train.
The fire burned for two days delaying any rescue effort and making the identification of most of the victims impossible.
Strict censorship at the time under the regime of General Franco in the wake of the Spanish Civil War
meant that it received very little publicity at the time, and the official RENFE
file on the accident has also been lost. Many people travelled without tickets so it was difficult to estimate the true number of passengers aboard, but survivors state that the train was packed, many travelling to the Christmas fair in Bembibre
. It was only many years later that the scale of the accident was revealed and there is still some dispute over its actual magnitude, some sources maintaining a death toll between 200-250.
Tunnel No. 20, the scene of the accident was closed in 1985 due to geological problems.
A film about the accident entitled Tunnel number 20 won a Goya Award in 2002 for best short documentary film.
Torre del Bierzo
Torre del Bierzo is a village and municipality located in the region of El Bierzo . According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 2,736 inhabitants....
in the El Bierzo
El Bierzo
El Bierzo is a shire in the province of León, Spain. The valley has the administrative status of comarca and its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital.- History :...
region of Spain's León province when three trains collided inside a tunnel. Although officially 78, the death toll at the time was estimated to be 200-250 but studies conducted more recently have estimated the death toll at over 500.
At 20:30 the previous evening the Galicia mail express left Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
bound for A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
consisting of 12 carriages hauled by two 4-8-0
4-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. The type was nicknamed the Mastodon or Twelve-wheeler in North America....
'Mastodon' steam locomotives. It was running two hours late when it arrived at Astorga
Astorga, Spain
Astorga is a town in the province of León, northern Spain. It lies southwest of the provincial capital of León, and is the head of the council of La Maragatería. The river Tuerto flows through it. , its population was about 12,100 people....
and was having problems with its brakes; nine minutes being spent at Astorga while they were checked. Later one of the locomotives was removed due to a hot axle box. The train was now three hours late, and had serious problems with its brakes during the steep descent through Branuelas, but the fateful decision was made to continue. The train was scheduled to stop at Albares but failed to do so, despite all hand-brakes on the carriages being applied and sand being applied. The Albares station master immediately telephoned Torre del Bierzo to say that the train had lost its brakes on the steep descent. At Torre del Bierzo the station master ran for his office and attempts were made to put sleepers on the line to slow the runaway train but to no avail as it ran through with its whistle incessantly blowing and its brake shoes applied; heading for tunnel No 20, located just beyond the station.
Meanwhile a shunting engine and three carriages were travelling through the tunnel away from the station having been warned by the station master about the runaway mail train. The last two carriages were still in the tunnel when they were struck by the mail train; as were the first six carriages of the mail train which began to burn, their wood construction being ignited by the train gaslighting.
Oblivious to the tragedy a coal train was approaching the tunnel from the opposite direction with 27 loaded waggons. The crash having destroyed the signaling cables, the signals were set at clear as the coal train left tunnel No 21. The unharmed driver of the shunting engine desperately tried to warn the oncoming coal train which managed to slow, but it still ploughed into the shunting locomotive's train, killing the shunting engine driver and four railwaymen on the coal train.
The fire burned for two days delaying any rescue effort and making the identification of most of the victims impossible.
Strict censorship at the time under the regime of General Franco in the wake of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
meant that it received very little publicity at the time, and the official RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
file on the accident has also been lost. Many people travelled without tickets so it was difficult to estimate the true number of passengers aboard, but survivors state that the train was packed, many travelling to the Christmas fair in Bembibre
Bembibre
Bembibre is a municipality and a city located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2010 census , the municipality has a population of 10,097 inhabitants. The second largest urban settlement in the region of El Bierzo, it is considered as the capital of traditional...
. It was only many years later that the scale of the accident was revealed and there is still some dispute over its actual magnitude, some sources maintaining a death toll between 200-250.
Tunnel No. 20, the scene of the accident was closed in 1985 due to geological problems.
A film about the accident entitled Tunnel number 20 won a Goya Award in 2002 for best short documentary film.
Sources (in Spanish)
- El accidente de Torre del Bierzo
- El gran accidente de Torre del Bierzo
- ¿Qué pasó en el túnel número 20?
See also
- List of train accidents by death toll