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Spanish rail crash probe to take months more as lab tests pending
CIAF says final report on Adamuz derailment delayed due to rail sample analysis; fracture detected 22 hours before crash.
Main source: CIAF says Adamuz crash investigation will continue for several months more · By Rail Post Desk
The investigation into the Adamuz derailment in Spain will take several more months to complete, according to the country’s rail accident investigation body.
The Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes Ferroviarios, or CIAF, has informed infrastructure manager ADIF that laboratory analysis of broken rail samples from the site has not yet been carried out, as reported by Railway Gazette International.
A letter sent on July 3 by CIAF President Ignacio Barrón to ADIF Managing Director Luis Pedro Marco explained that without these tests, it is not yet possible to determine the cause of the rail fracture.
CIAF has so far established that the fracture likely began at the base of the rail and gradually extended upward. The rail head was the last part to break when the complete fracture occurred.
The fracture was present for approximately 22 hours before the derailment. It was detected by a remote monitoring tool that registers changes in track circuit voltages, used in corrective and preventive rail maintenance. However, CIAF notes that this tool is not considered a warning device.
ADIF relies on inspection and auscultation techniques for detecting and preventing rail breaks. But investigators believe these preventive methods are insufficient to completely eliminate the risk of rail breaks occurring.
The letter also raises unanswered questions about the behavior of the ETR1000 trainset operated by Iryo that derailed when it encountered the rail fracture. CIAF says it is unclear why the rear cars came to rest across the opposite running line, given that the crack was on the right-hand rail of the track on which the train was traveling. The derailed cars would have been expected to slew to the right of the track, according to the investigators.
CIAF also concludes that no tried and tested system is currently available on the market for infallible early detection of rail breaks.
The letter was released ahead of the imminent merger of CIAF into a broader accident investigation body that will also cover other modes of transport.
Railway Gazette International approached CIAF to confirm the content of the letter but had not received a response at the time of publication.
The Adamuz derailment, which occurred on a high-speed line, has drawn attention to the challenges of detecting rail fractures in a timely manner. The investigation continues as the rail industry seeks more reliable methods for preventing such incidents.