The Valencia Metro derailment occurred in Valencia, Spain's third largest city, on 3 July 2006 at 1 p.m.

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in ...

(1100 UTC) between Jesús and Plaça d'Espanya stations on the

Line 1 Line 1 or 1 line may refer to: Public transport Africa * Line 1 (Algiers Metro), Algeria * Cairo Metro Line 1, Egypt Asia China * Line 1 (Beijing Subway) * Line 1 (Changchun Rail Transit) * Line 1 (Changsha Metro) * Line 1 (Changzhou Metro) * L ...

of the

Metrovalencia Metrovalencia is an urban rail system serving a large part of the metropolitan area of Valencia. The network is a modern amalgamation of former FEVE narrow gauge electric operated suburban railways. It is a large suburban network that crosses ...

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

system. At least 43 people were killed and more than ten were seriously injured. ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' reports that Valencian forensic scientists have identified all but one of the victims — a woman whose family has not claimed her. Twenty-one of the victims were from Torrent, a locality seven kilometres from Valencia and the train's destination. Five more victims were from the city of Valencia itself, and two were from

Paiporta Paiporta () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' of Horta Sud in the Valencia (autonomous community), Valencian Community, Spain. Twin towns Paiporta is town twinning, twinned with: ...

, which is also nearby. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, which occurred at a curve just outside Jesús station. However, data from the train's black box showed that the train's speed at the derailment point was 80 km/h (50 mph), which means it was travelling at twice the normal 40 km/h speed for this curve. Defective wheels or the possible collapse of a tunnel wall were also being considered as possible causes. Both the Valencian government spokesman Vicente Rambla and Mayor Rita Barberá have called the accident a "chance" event. However, the trade union

CC.OO. The Workers' Commissions ( es, Comisiones Obreras, CCOO) since the 1970s has become the largest trade union in Spain. It has more than one million members, and is the most successful union in labor elections, competing with the Unión General d ...

has accused the authorities of "rushing" to say anything but admit that Line 1 is in a state of "constant deterioration" with a "failure to carry out maintenance". It has been reported that a part of the wall in the tunnel between Plaça d'Espanya and Jesús stations in the southwestern neighbourhood of

Patraix ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

may have collapsed, causing the derailment of one of the carriages, which in turn caused the carriage behind it to overturn. The fire brigade, medics and local police went to the scene after a passenger in the crashed train called the emergency services at about 1:03 p.m. (1103 UTC). The incident came days before Pope Benedict XVI was due to visit Valencia for the

World Meeting of the Families The World Meeting of Families is a gathering of the Roman Catholic Church that has occurred every three years since 1994. It is organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which "promotes the pastoral care of families, protects their ri ...

, attended by one million pilgrims. It also coincided with the end to one of the pre-

America's Cup 2007 The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and ''Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift o ...

match racings. Both events led to an increase in tourists in the area. The Pope offered his condolences and prayed at Jesús station, the scene of the accident.

Subsequent reactions

Years after the accident several news media published information that reopened the debate about it.
Se reactiva el debate en torno al accidente del metro de Valencia
' by La vanguardia 29 April 2013. In June 2011 the magazine

Interviú ''Interviú'' (a Spanish Anglicism for "interview") was a Spanish language weekly news magazine published in Madrid, Spain. It was in circulation between 1976 and 2018. History and profile ''Interviú'' was established in 1976 by a group led by ...

published that the train driver, who died in the accident and who received all the blame, was ill with epilepsy, which disqualified him for his work. In March 2012 the newspaper '' El Mundo'' published a story according to which FGV have instructed employees who were to testify at the crash commission investigation, providing a set of possible questions and guidelines to respond questions. In April 2013 the TV program ''

Salvados ''Salvados'' ("Saved") is a Spanish news show hosted and directed from 2008 to 2019 by Jordi Évole and later by Gonzo. It airs Sunday nights on laSexta. History ''Salvados por la campaña'' and first season ''Salvados'' started in 2008 as ''Sal ...

'' questioned the official version of the incident as there were indications that the Valencian Government had tried to downplay the accident, which coincided with the visit of the pope to Valencia, or even to hide evidence, as the book of train breakdowns was never found. The day after the broadcast of this report, which received extensive media coverage, several voices called for the reopening of the investigation.
Un alcalde del PP insta a la Fiscalía a reabrir el caso del accidente del metro
' by F. Álvarez, H. Sanjuan on en El Mundo 29 April 2013.

References

External links

News media

Train crash kills 35 in Valencia
at BBC News
Spain subway crash toll rises
at CNN.com
Al menos 30 muertos por el descarrilamiento de un vagón del metro en Valencia
at '' 20 minutos''
Some images
at '' El Mundo''
A video
at '' El Mundo''
In Pictures: Valencia train crash
at BBC News

Maps

View of Jesús Station and surrounding area
at Google Maps
Map of Valencia Metro

Videos