A local passenger train with three cars derailed on Friday afternoon, interrupting operations on the Central Line.
The incident did not cause any injuries; all passengers were evacuated from the site.
The Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, shared information on his Facebook wall that was sent to him by the director general of the Union of Railways of Cuba.
The incident occurred at 5:15 PM when Extra Train 107, locomotive 38209, which was headed towards the municipality of Los Arabos, derailed its formation while traveling through km 149.2 of the Central Line between the stations of Quintana and Jovellanos.
According to the note, upon learning of the incident, the main executives of the railways in the territory and the Cuban Railway Union (UFC), the Railway Transportation Administration (ATF), authorities from the Party and the Government, and members of the Police and other bodies of the Ministry of Interior attended.
"The train circulation on the Central Line is interrupted in the affected section, and efforts are being made to resolve the issue to restore train traffic as soon as possible," the information specifies.
The causes of the incident are being investigated, but all signs point to the poor condition of the tracks and trains, which have caused accidents of this type in recent times.
In the middle of the month, the train bound for the Central University "Marta Abreu" of Las Villas (UCLV) derailed on a secondary track.
The provincial government of Villa Clara informed the university community that the train would not have its usual departure on Monday, September 16. "Although the railway crane has been moved for its operation, it has not yet been possible to resolve the issue," it stated.
The authorities agreed to reinforce the transportation of students with buses.
That incident was the second in less than a week.
Days before, 100 meters of railway tracks were affected in Matanzas after a freight train derailed between the Central Line stations of Quintana and Jovellanos, without any loss of life.
The incident occurred around 5:35 am, when locomotive 312055 of train Extra 69 derailed and overturned three container flats at km 151.
The train was composed of 16 wagons, of which 14 were container flatcars loaded by the company FerroMar S.A., heading to Villa Clara.
The overturned container flats were numbers seven, eight, and nine in the formation, so the locomotive and the others did not have any issues.
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