About half an hour later, at 19:55, a train left Entroncamento, 106 kilometres (66 mi) away from Santa Apolónia, making the regional service towards Coimbra, where it was scheduled to arrive at 21:51.

230 metres (0.14 mi) before the signal, with the train travelling at 36 kilometres per hour (22 mph), CONVEL triggered the emergency brakes.

Following the rules for this type of incident, the driver contacted the REFER Lisbon Operational Command Center (CCO Lisboa), awaiting instructions on how to proceed.

This train was also unable to stop on time, and passed the signal at danger with a speed of 58.5 kilometres per hour (36.4 mph), moment at which CONVEL triggered the emergency brakes.

In the aftermath of the accident, the track was not used for several days, as works were in progress to remove the debris and to repair the infrastructure, and authorities carried on investigations.