Air traffic control instructs driver to violate rules, resumes service at ``normal speed'' - Spanish train accident

[Paris Current Affairs] In the accident in which two high-speed trains collided in central Spain on the 28th, Spanish media reported that the person in charge of the railway traffic control center may have given instructions to the driver to violate regulations and may not have been aware of the risk of a disaster. This report was based on communication records between air traffic control and trains.

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On the 28th, a train on the private high-speed railway ``Illo'' departing from the capital Madrid and a following train on the National Railways, which was traveling about 25 kilometers away, stopped midway due to a glitch in the operation management system. Air traffic control changed system operation to manual. Under the rules, trains must slow down to 40km/h before restarting trains, but JNR drivers were instructed to drive at ``normal speed.''

Afterwards, air traffic control received a report from the driver of the Iryo that the aircraft remained stationary. However, he did not order JNR drivers to slow down or stop. The accident occurred in a section where the maximum speed was 200km/h. The speed of the JNR at the time of the collision is not known.