A train driver has died and dozens have been injured after two locomotives crashed outside Barcelona on Monday evening.

       Regional emergency services said 85 people have been injured, two seriously.

       The collision happened when a cargo train carrying potash – a term commonly used for potassium – derailed at around 6pm local time as it came into Sant Boi station, which is located some 15 kilometres from Barcelona.

       The vehicle then struck the front of the passenger train, which was pulling out of the station.

       “The driver of the passenger train died as a result of the impact,” the regional government said in a statement.

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       Rescue crews said they were helping to evacuate about 100 people on the passenger train.

       In 2013, a train crashed in Santiago de Compostela, killing 80 passengers and leaving more than 100 injured in one of the worst train crashes in four decades.

       The train, which was heading from Madrid to Ferrol, crashed off the high speed section of tracks.

       After emerging from a tunnel the train, which was travelling at a “very fast” speed, derailed on the curve sending carriages flying off the tracks.

       Additional reporting by agencies