“The one who is going to cross does not see the train until it is almost on the track”

The deadly accident yesterday afternoon in Puebla de Sancho Pérez occurred at one of the seven barrier-free level crossings in the municipality of this town, on the railway line between Seville and Cáceres. There is another with a barrier, in the same urban area, but on the Huelva-Zafra line. There is also another one but on the Zafra-Jerez de los Caballeros line, reactivated in recent times. Therefore, the term Poblanchino is a relevant node of railway communications due to its proximity to Zafra (3 kilometers away) and, in turn, a dangerous link due to the abundance of those crossings that, despite being signposted, have a risk accident rate if the rules are not met.

As confirmed TODAY from railway sources, there are seven level crossings without barriers between the El Raposo resort, in the Puebla de Sancho Pérez district, and the Zafra railway station. They all have stop signs that force those who cross them to stop. An even more relevant circumstance when in two of them the visibility for those who want to cross them is poorer than in the other five cases.

In the presence of level crossings without a barrier, the trains that circulate on the track emit whistles warning of their presence. They do it from time to time and obviously before they go through them. It is something obligatory. At the same time, when a fatal accident occurs, a series of usual protocols are followed, including drug and alcohol use tests on the train driver and the analysis of the railway black box, where the speed at which the train was traveling is recorded. , the whistles emitted and the conversations held by the train driver with his managers.

“I don’t know the truth that could have happened. We have many level crossings in the terminus and only one with a barrier. It is unfortunate because many trains do not pass through here either, ”says the mayor of Puebla, José Agustín Reja. In fact, the one from yesterday, Sunday, is one of the four that makes the Seville-Cáceres route and vice versa at perfectly specific times.

The level crossing where the crash between the train and the deceased José María Gordillo, a resident of Los Santos de Maimona and an amateur cyclist, occurred is one of the two where visibility is worse, although it appears within a straight section and visibility Diaphanous for the most part. That means that the trains can travel over 90 kilometers per hour. There are, of course, stop signs posted before crossing the train tracks. Near that point there is a prickly pear and several fig trees that mean that “those who are going to cross the track do not see the train well until they are almost on the track. And the train driver does not see well who can cross at that time, “says the alderman. Reja admits that in recent years level crossings without barriers have been removed in the area around his town but there are still “enough”.

The road traveled by José María is a fork in the road that connects La Puebla with El Raposo. Called Corralón, it is dirt, but in good condition and reaches the level crossing in an area where some fig trees planted along the road in a plot next to them make it difficult for the cyclist to see both when facing the small slope to pass the tracks, like the driver.

“I believe that only two passenger trains circulate along this route a day: one that passes around half past nine in the morning and the other at half past eight in the evening. The first in the direction of Seville, the other, in the direction of Mérida” says Rejas.

The course is well known by walkers and long-distance runners. José María had a few kilometers left to reach Los Santos, since this road reaches National Highway 432 at the height of Bodegas Medina. Cross the road and link up with the Cortapisa path that reaches the town via Capricho de Cotrina street.