Rail accident in Spain: the government promises to work “tirelessly” to “regain the trust” of the Spaniards

The Spanish government assured Tuesday, November 3, that it was working “tirelessly” to “regain the trust” of the population, after two deadly train accidents in less than a year which revived questions about the safety of the second high-speed network in the world. “We are committed to working tirelessly to obtain and regain citizens' confidence in the high-speed network,” said the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, after the Council of Ministers.

Under pressure from the opposition, the minister, who refused to resign after the collision of two trains last Wednesday in Urda (69 deaths), presented to the press an “extraordinary plan to strengthen the security of the high-speed network”, as well as the aid system for survivors and victims' families. “The terrible accidents that occurred on the Madrid-Seville line demonstrate to us the imperative need to strengthen this system and improve its action protocols,” he recognized.

“From now on, all decisions taken in a control center, when it does not benefit from the help of automatic blocking systems, (...) will be supervised and must be validated by at least a second agent,” he announced. According to the first elements of the investigation, the Urda tragedy on October 28 is linked to an error in a rail traffic control center, following a computer failure.

Investigations showed that an operator had authorized the resumption of traffic and restarted one of the trains while another convoy was stopped on the same section of track, causing the violent collision a few minutes later. As it stands, Óscar Puente has announced a temporary reduction in the frequency of trains on this line between Madrid and Andalusia, once the security work is completed. Inaugurated in 1992, it was the first high-speed line opened in Spain.

Óscar Puente also assured that the executive would “improve the working conditions of controllers and strengthen the workforce”, a few days after a strike by the main train drivers' union (SEMAF), which demanded more staff and progress on rail safety, less than a year after the Adamuz accident in January (46 deaths). The union has called for a new strike on November 10 and 12 in the world's second most visited country each year. A general strike is planned for November 11 in Spain, three weeks before the early legislative elections.