Adif carries out the first emergency drill in a high-speed tunnel in Pajares

2023-09-29 00:00:00

Adif carries out the first emergency drill in a high-speed tunnel in Pajares

(28/09/2023)

The exercise, which is part of the tests prior to the commissioning of this infrastructure, has simulated a technical breakdown with a fire outbreak in the train, resulting in one of the train drivers being injured, inside one of the tubes of the tunnels. twenty-five kilometer base, near its southern mouth.

The test has served to verify the operation of the Self-Protection Plan for the Pajares Bypass tunnels; measure evacuation times and verify the action and coordination protocols between the emergency services. In this way, the suitability of the emergency action procedures is checked, as well as the communication and coordination between Adif, the railway operators, in this case Captrain, and the external help services that intervene in emergencies.

The tests ensure that the teams involved have real knowledge of the facilities and know how to act in emergency situations. The implementation of the self-protection plan is part of the requirements of the Spanish Railway Safety Agency for the commissioning of the infrastructure.

Intervention of different teams

Various Adif teams involved in these tasks have participated in the development of the drill, from the Protection and Security Center to the León Regulation and Control Center, as well as maintenance teams and teams from the security and self-protection and communication areas.

In the case of external aid services, Emergencies 112, Firefighters, Civil Guard, National Police, Local Police, Civil Protection and health emergencies of Castilla y León, among others, have intervened.
The exercise has recreated how a freight train stops inside the Pajares Tunnel due to a technical fault, with an outbreak of fire. One of the engineers is injured while trying to put out the fire. The freight train used in the simulation is made up of a Captrain series 256 locomotive and a maximum capacity of 1,440 gross towed tons.

Immediately, the communication protocols between Adif and the railway companies have been put in place in case of emergency and the Self-Protection Plan for the Pajares Bypass Tunnel has been activated, in turn notifying, through 112 Castilla y León, to the external emergency intervention services.

External help has accessed the infrastructure with its own means and inside the tunnel with a railway vehicle, the injured train driver has been evacuated to an emergency gallery and has been transferred by the emergency intervention services.

Security and communications

The Pajares Bypass bridges the passage under the Cantabrian Mountains and the significant gap that exists between the province of León and Asturias, and represents an unprecedented engineering and construction challenge: 80 percent of its route runs in a tunnel. Likewise, the fact of combining high-speed parameters and freight traffic parameters on the same line makes it the most complex railway project developed in Spain.

The entry into service of the Pajares Bypass represents an unprecedented leap in safety, from the point of view of its layout (it will give way to a double-track layout 37 kilometers shorter than the current one, with a lower slope and a lower geographical height). and, therefore, less exposed to the elements of winter); train protection systems (ERTMS level 2 and electrified line) and civil protection systems (among them, more than 200 jet fans installed to control smoke in the event of fire).

The Variante tunnels have the most modern security and communications elements: detection and protection equipment against fires and toxic gases; ventilation system; emergency lighting and emergency communication systems.

The base twin-tube tunnel has 58 connecting galleries between both tubes along its 25 kilometers of length, facilitating eventual evacuation and rescue tasks. The Pajares tunnels are also equipped with three heliports; two of them in both mouths (north, Asturias side, and south, Len side) and a third at the beginning of the Buiza galley (Len). The Pajares Variant incorporates Asturias into high speed: shorten travel times, increase the capacity and reliability of the León-Asturias connection and boost freight traffic.