The circulation of trains on the High Speed ??Line that connects Valencia and Madrid is already working, after suspending the service throughout the day on Sunday. A chaos that affected more than 9,000 people and that, since it was generated in the middle of electoral day, fueled speculation and complaints from the PP that asked for solutions and that the vote of the people detained be guaranteed to leave and enter the isolated Joaquín Sorolla de València station. Alternative shuttle train and bus services were established and political nerves calmed down on a day of high tension.
In a statement, Adif explained that the service could be recovered at 05:00, after completing the water evacuation tasks in the San Isidro tunnel. Thus, they have indicated that “three auxiliary pumps and a team of 50 professionals have been involved for more than a day in draining the flood caused yesterday by a fire in a chest that disabled the tunnel’s water pumps.”
Adif points out that at 03:46 yesterday traffic between the Xátiva and Valencia J.S. bifurcations was suspended due to the accumulation of water (reaching 80 cm) on the lane in the high-speed access tunnel to Valencia, the San Isidro tunnel, due to a fire in a manhole that affected the pumps that drain the tunnel, making it impossible to evacuate. The tunnel’s water table is below sea level and a perfectly sized pump system fulfills the function of draining the water.
At that time, the statement says, the protocol was activated with firefighters from the Valencia City Council and the rest of the State Security Forces. Firefighters put out the fire at 6:05 a.m. The fire caused smoke in the tunnel and, immediately, it was not possible to operate inside due to the high level of CO and O2.
After verifying that the tunnel pumps were not evacuating water, different alternatives were activated -among them, a pump truck to remove water and the repair of the damaged pumps- and finally it was decided to mount an auxiliary pump. A measure that was reinforced during the day with two additional auxiliary pumps.
Adif has opened an investigation and, so far, the causes of the fire are unknown.
