With 3,993 kilometers, including 3,225 specially reserved for speeds above 250 km/h, the Spanish high-speed rail network is the longest in Europe and is widely used, according to the most recent European statistics.
Since the opening to competition of high-speed passenger transport at the end of 2020, three companies have been running high-speed trains there: Renfe (Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Espanoles), the large Spanish public railway company, Iryo, high-speed train operator controlled by the Italian Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS, parent company of Trenitalia, with 51%) and Spanish players such as Air nostrum (25%) and Globalvia (24%), and finally, Ouigo España, a subsidiary of the French SNCF.
The network is organized around lines which converge towards the capital Madrid and its Atocha station, for everything coming from the south and east, and Madrid-Chamartin for the northwest, but it also includes transverse lines which connect, for example, Catalonia to Andalusia directly. According to Frederic de Kemmeter, independent transport expert in Europe, Renfe maintains a market share above 60% (61.2%), while Iryo and Ouigo share the remaining approximately 40%.
The arrival of the opening to competition has caused the number of passengers to explode to nearly 40 million in 2024, with a rate of use of the tracks which led to accelerated fatigue of the rolling stock and infrastructure, according to some experts. Since January 1, 2005, the Spanish rail network has been separated from Renfe. The public manager of the main network, ADIF, is responsible for more than 15,000 kilometers of railway tracks.
The Spanish Football Federation announced on Wednesday the postponement of 24 matches in the first round of the Copa del Rey “as a sign of respect and solidarity” to the victims of the train accident which left at least 31 dead and 80 injured south of Madrid.
“As a sign of respect and solidarity with all the victims of the tragic train accident that occurred Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo, the RFEF has decreed the suspension of the 24 matches of the first round of the Copa del Rey initially scheduled for this afternoon and this evening,” the body wrote in a press release.
The Spanish Federation adds that it “will soon communicate the revised calendar and the final times of the postponed matches”, providing “its support to the authorities to help the victims of this terrible accident”. The latest provisional toll from Spanish authorities shows at least 31 dead and 80 injured in the collision of two trains about 150 km south of Madrid, making it one of the worst rail disasters in the country's history.
Right after the collision, while rescue teams had not yet arrived, people inside the train were screaming. In the dining car, the passengers were thrown by the shock. Blows to the head, people falling on top of each other, a broken arm... When leaving the train, just a few minutes after the accident, the victims scattered and sat in the middle of the fields. The first measures taken after the collision between two high-speed trains, an AVE traveling in the direction of Seville, and an Iryo, this Wednesday between Los Yébenes and Urda, in the province of Toledo (center of the country), consisted of evacuating the passengers, leaving the scene and calling their loved ones.
Around 11 a.m., many doctors had already treated dozens of injured people. The police forces identify the passengers, who help each other and try to reassure each other. A man is completely soaked and drying off, sitting in the sun. Another worries: “I have three children.”
Initial testimonies relayed by the Spanish press provide images of this tragic accident. “There was a sudden stop and people were thrown into the alley,” a witness told Cadena Ser radio. Several people say that many bodies are difficult to extricate “because they are under the rubble” of the train. There are reportedly “injured people on the train, with amputated arms”, who are waiting to be treated by emergency services.
On X, videos of the shock and the passengers near the rubble are circulating.
Two trains collided on Wednesday morning about 150 km south of Madrid, Spain, an accident which left “at least 10 dead”, according to an initial report from local authorities.
“There was a collision between two trains, there are people injured,” Manuel Galán, the mayor of the town of Urda, in the Castile-La Mancha region, where the accident took place, told Spanish television.
According to a spokesperson for the Spanish emergency services contacted by AFP, the collision took place “at 8:54 a.m.” between “two trains, one from (the private operator) Yrio and the other from (the national company) Renfe”.
This spokesperson felt that it was too early “to talk about the injured”, specifying that “all means are currently mobilized”, including “several fire brigades, three helicopters and two mobile intensive care units (UVI)”.
“Traffic is interrupted on the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line due to a collision between two trains,” the public company responsible for managing the railway infrastructure, ADIF, indicated on the social network
This accident comes less than a year after the tragic accident which occurred in Adamuz in Andalusia which left 46 dead in the violent collision of two high-speed trains.
This accident, which occurred on January 18, shocked all of Spain and sparked strong criticism from the right-wing and far-right opposition against the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez.
