A fire in the rear cab of a Madrid-Figueres AVE high-speed train near Ricla, in the province of Zaragoza, cut the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line on Monday afternoon and affected nine trains in Lleida, according to La Mañana: four heading to Barcelona and five heading to Madrid. The disruption came at the height of the return journeys after the Pilar bank holiday weekend.

The Lleida trains

According to La Mañana, the trains affected in Lleida were the 14.30, 17.55, 18.30 and 19.30 services to Barcelona and the 16.05, 16.10, 18.10, 18.25 and 20.00 services to Madrid. The disruption overwhelmed the Lleida-Pirineus and Barcelona-Sants stations, and Catalan Civil Protection activated the pre-alert phase of the Ferrocat rail emergency plan, according to the same newspaper. In total, at least around 5,000 passengers were affected in Catalonia, with delays of up to three hours, according to La Mañana.

«Ha habido retenciones en Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza y Lleida» (there were hold-ups in Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza and Lleida), said Renfe’s deputy director general to the presidency, Sergio Bueno, according to Aragón Noticias. Bueno added that those trains were attended at all times by the Red Cross.

What happened in Ricla

The train, a series 100, had left Madrid at 14.27 and the incident occurred at around 16.05, Renfe told Aragón Noticias. The fire broke out in the rear power car of the train, at kilometre point 255.00, and Zaragoza provincial council firefighters went to put it out. The fire was extinguished after more than four hours, according to the same broadcaster.

The 283 passengers were evacuated to a safe area, a peach orchard, and taken by bus to Zaragoza Delicias station, according to Aragón Noticias. Renfe said there were no injuries. A person with reduced mobility and a woman needed medical attention for dizziness, according to the same broadcaster.

What passengers said

One of those affected, Ivana Prados, told El Periódico de Aragón that just after leaving Calatayud station they began to hear a very loud alarm and saw very black smoke coming from the back, according to La Mañana. The same newspaper says the fire burned the rear cab of the train and that Renfe staff acted quickly and were able to evacuate passengers in a short time, without injuries, according to the company.

Passengers told Aragón Noticias that when the train stopped they moved from carriage one to carriage eight and that, as they got off, falling overhead line cables gave them a small scare. Half of the passengers formed a human chain to get the luggage off the train, according to the broadcaster.

«El tren ha frenado y hemos empezado a ver humo. Ha habido un momento en el que se han bloqueado las puertas. Lo hemos pasado bastante mal» (the train braked and we started to see smoke; at one point the doors locked; we had a pretty bad time), a passenger told Aragón Noticias. Another passenger said that a ladder had been put up to get off but it fell, and people got off afterwards.

At Delicias station, one passenger complained to the same broadcaster that they were going to Barcelona, were stuck there and had hardly any information. Another said she was queuing to make a complaint and that everything was chaotic.

Renfe’s figures

According to the figures Renfe released at the end of the day, reported by Zaragozalá, the disruption affected 33 trains and 12,979 of the company’s passengers. Renfe counted 18 trains that could not leave their station of origin and another 14 that were held at stations. The disruption also affected Iryo and Ouigo services, which use the same corridor, according to the same outlet.

Adif cut the power to the overhead line and partially reopened the line at around 20.35, with traffic on a single track between Ricla and Plasencia de Jalón, according to Zaragozalá. Renfe expected all trains held at their origin to be running by around 23.00, a forecast that did not guarantee passengers would arrive on time. Renfe offered free ticket changes and refunds, according to La Región. La Mañana puts the partial reopening at 20.34 and Zaragozalá at around 20.35. In the afternoon Renfe had warned on the social network X that the disruption would probably last all of Monday, according to Aragón Noticias.

Causes still unknown

Renfe has opened an investigation into the origin of the fire. In its latest statement, the company said the causes were still unknown, according to Zaragozalá. Sergio Bueno said on Monday that they hoped to have some indication during Tuesday, according to Aragón Noticias.

Not the first time

The high-speed line through Lleida was already cut by fires in each of the last two summers. In July 2025, Adif suspended traffic between Madrid and Barcelona on the Lleida bypass because of a fire near the line, according to Vozpópuli. Firefighters received the alert at 19.08 and traffic resumed at 21.25, two hours later.

On 18 June 2026, a forest fire in Albi forced Adif to cut power on the Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona corridor, with 15 trains stopped within barely three hours and thousands of passengers affected, according to Merca2. The Generalitat’s fire service deployed twelve ground crews and aircraft. The weekend before, another fire in Cervià de les Garrigues had burned 33 hectares, according to the same outlet.

Sources and verification

Information based on La Mañana, 13 October 2026; Aragón Noticias, 12 October 2026; Zaragozalá, 13 October 2026; La Región, 12 October 2026; Vozpópuli, July 2025; and Merca2, 18 June 2026. The figures for trains and passengers affected are Renfe’s and only cover its services. The sources give different figures for passengers affected depending on the time and scope: between 4,500 and 5,000 in Renfe’s first estimate, at least around 5,000 in Catalonia according to La Mañana, and 12,979 in Renfe’s final figures. Renfe and Adif were not contacted before publication.