Minister Óscar Puente resigned on Tuesday following a high-speed train crash near Urda that killed 69 people, marking the second major rail disaster in Spain this year.
Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente resigned on Tuesday following a high-speed train collision that killed at least 69 people and injured dozens. Puente announced his decision in Congress while giving evidence regarding the circumstances of the crash, which occurred on 28 October near the town of Urda, south of Madrid.
The accident occurred when a state-operated Renfe high-speed train collided with the back of a stationary train operated by the private company Iryo. According to Puente, a computer failure in the automatic signalling system had forced all trains to halt on the affected stretch of track, but the Renfe train was later ordered to proceed "in error."
Leaked audio recordings published by Spanish media outlets, including El Pais and RTVE, show conversations between Madrid's control centre and train drivers. The recordings suggest that one high-speed train was given clearance to move even though another train was stopped on the track approximately 25km (15 miles) ahead. In one recording, a control operator told a Renfe driver to "Continue your journey and then proceed under [Lateral Signalling Block], at normal speed with normal operation."
Puente stated, "A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of this seriousness in less than a year," referring to a previous deadly crash in Andalusia in January that killed 46 people. Puente also announced he is withdrawing his name from the lists for the early legislative elections scheduled for 29 November.
In response to the disaster, Puente announced several measures:
The train drivers' union, Semaf, has denounced what it calls a worsening of working conditions and the use of "degraded systems." Raquel Ayllon, a union leader at the state-owned infrastructure operator Adif, stated on TVE that "Human error is being criticized and questioned very quickly, while people are not really focusing on the central issue: the failure of the safety system."
Right-wing opposition parties and unions have criticized Puente, alleging he appeared to pin the blame for the disaster on a single control centre operator.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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