"Among the passengers, several people were lightly injured and are pending evaluation," the local emergency services said on Twitter.

Some 39 people were later taken to medical centres for further treatment, but none of the passengers were considered to be seriously injured.

Officials gave no further details on the nature of the injuries, but local media said no one had been seriously hurt and the injuries were limited to knocks and bruises.

The collision took place on a train line in Montcada i Reixac, a town just north of Barcelona. Many people make the daily work commute from the town and others nearby to Spain's second-largest city.

Spanish Civil Protection said one train was stopped when the second failed to break on time and ran into it from behind.

Around 800 passengers were on the two trains.

The Catalan government's representative in Madrid, Ester Capella, told Spanish National Radio that officials are investigating the incident.

The trains were from public transportation provider Rodalies de Catalunya (Rodalíes), which has been operating train lines in Barcelona since 1990.