The death toll from Spain’s high-speed rail disaster rose to 69 on Thursday, as investigators faced growing questions over why safety systems failed to prevent a moving train from colliding with another that had stopped ahead.
Emiliano García-Page, president of Castile-La Mancha, announced the latest death following Wednesday’s collision near Urda in Toledo province. Of the 110 people hospitalised, 60 had been discharged while 50 remained under treatment. Four of the 15 critically injured patients were showing signs of improvement, offering cautious hope, he said.
Rescue crews continued removing wreckage and identifying victims after recovering additional human remains overnight. García-Page said authorities did not expect to find any more bodies beneath the carriages.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged a full investigation into the disaster and measures to prevent a similar tragedy. He said the central government was working to support victims’ families, establish the facts and strengthen rail safety.
Safety Systems and Operational Decisions Under Scrutiny
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a technical failure involving the LZB automatic train protection system had stopped at least six trains before controllers authorised a Renfe train to resume normal speed, potentially reaching 200 kilometres per hour.
Puente described the decision as “inexplicable”, given that an Iryo train remained stationary ahead. The train controller has reportedly been questioned by Spanish police.
Recordings broadcast by Spanish media captured the authorisation to resume normal operations. According to the recordings, the Iryo train’s driver had also reported being unable to move approximately five minutes before the collision.
The disaster has renewed scrutiny of the safeguards in place when automatic train protection systems fail. Spain’s rail accident investigation commission had warned after a 2024 incident in Cuenca that a controller’s visual confirmation that a track section was clear was the only effective barrier against a potential collision. The commission cautioned that relying on human judgement could be insufficient and recommended additional technical safeguards, according to a report cited by Cadena SER.
Rail Maintenance and Network Pressure Examined
Experts have also raised questions about infrastructure maintenance and operational procedures. Figures from the European Commission cited by El País indicate that Spain spent €95,860 per kilometre on rail maintenance in 2022, approximately half the European Union average.
Meanwhile, high-speed rail passenger numbers reached 44.5 million last year, double the figure recorded in 2019, the newspaper reported.
Engineer Jordi Viñolas Prat told El País that the system had “worked perfectly” by stopping the trains, but said the key issue was how internal protocols had allowed the subsequent mistake to occur.
The latest collision comes amid campaigning ahead of Spain’s national elections and follows a high-speed train collision in Adamuz in January that killed 46 people. Sánchez described two high-speed rail disasters in one year as “unacceptable”.
Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for a “complete and independent review” of the rail network and demanded answers about warnings received over the past year. The left-wing Frente Amplio also called for an independent audit and for the transport minister to testify before parliament.
The far-right Vox party continued campaigning on Wednesday, with its leader, Santiago Abascal, blaming the disaster on what he described as Sánchez’s “corruption and ideological fanaticism”.
Source: Anadolu Ajansı
