Train driver killed and 37 passengers injured after wall collapse derails Rodalies service near Gelida

# Train driver killed and 37 passengers injured after wall collapse derails Rodalies service near Gelida

A Rodalies commuter train derailment near Gelida in Catalonia killed the train driver and injured 37 other people after a retaining wall collapsed onto the first carriage, according to RTVE. The accident happened on the evening of January 20, 2026, on the R4 line between Gelida and Sant Sadurní, roughly 50 kilometres from Barcelona.

The report says the wall gave way after a landslide or earth movement, with heavy rainfall in the preceding days listed as a possible factor. The impact left the first carriage badly damaged and required a large rescue operation. Around 70 firefighters were mobilised, and rescuers spent more than an hour freeing one trapped person from the carriage.

Medical teams classified the injuries as five serious, six moderate and 26 minor. The report says two of the most critical casualties had been travelling in the cab area. All injured passengers were evacuated, and the body of the dead driver was recovered from the scene.

The deceased driver was 28 years old, from Seville, and was undergoing practical training, according to police sources cited by RTVE. The Mossos d'Esquadra took charge of the investigation through their central transport and aviation unit. The article also says the driver was identified fully before the family was informed.

The collapse prompted broader rail inspections. According to the report, maquinists and infrastructure technicians were to check the network overnight using trains with only staff aboard to make sure no other stretch had been damaged by the weather. Rodalies Renfe also activated a phone line for relatives and opened a civic centre in the town to support families.

The accident had wider service consequences. Adif suspended rail traffic across the entire Catalan Rodalies network until infrastructure checks could be completed. The report says the service would resume once the inspection of the network had finished and safety was confirmed.

The packet does not quantify the total economic damage or give a final cause beyond the suspected collapse of the retaining wall. It does, however, show how one structural failure can cascade into a major transport emergency: one dead driver, dozens injured passengers, emergency crews working on a damaged carriage, and a province-wide rail shutdown.

This is the kind of event where early reporting has to stay close to the verified facts. The source supports the casualty figures, the location, the likely weather link and the emergency response. It does not support any claim that the wall collapse was officially ruled the sole cause or that the transport system had already returned to normal.

The event date supplied with the story is January 20, 2026. On that date, a wall collapse in Gelida turned a commuter train journey into one of the most serious rail accidents in the packet.