Spanish government introduces additional safety measures to prevent train accidents

At the government's weekly ordinary Council of Ministers Meeting, "safety of high-speed train travel" was the main agenda item.

The new plan announced by the government includes temporarily reducing the frequency of Madrid-Seville trains without reducing the number of seats, implementing double verification in control centers and introducing technological improvements to strengthen the system and increase the number of personnel.

The government announced that it has allocated a budget of 30 million euros to compensate the victims of the train accident in Toledo and the families of the 69 people whose lives were recorded.

It was reported that 72 thousand 121 euros will be given to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident, and 2 thousand 400 to 84 thousand 141 euros will be given to the injured.

"We must work tirelessly to restore trust."

Making a statement regarding the decisions taken, Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Oscar Puente Santiago also reminded of the high-speed train accident that occurred in the Adamuz location near Cordoba in January, in which 49 people died, and said:

"After 2 accidents in less than a year, the aim of the decisions taken today is to strengthen the system and improve operating protocols. We must recognize the seriousness of the situation and work tirelessly to restore trust."

Emphasizing that some of the measures taken from the decisions taken are already in effect, Puente stated that they will bring technological innovations such as software for control centers with automatic warnings, electronic telephone records, verification checklists, and improved visual ergonomics to facilitate understanding of train locations and line conditions.

Puente received harsh criticism from the opposition

Puente, who is the leading candidate of the Socialist Workers Party from Valladolid in the early general elections to be held in Spain on November 29, hinted during his speech that he would not resign despite the reactions from both the opposition and the junior partner of the coalition, Sumar.

Puente, who also spoke in the Parliament regarding the accident in Toledo, received harsh criticism from the opposition.

"Strike" decision from railway sector employees

The unions affiliated with the employees of the railway administration Adif, who did not find the decisions taken by the government sufficient, agreed that the railway sector employees would go on strike on November 17.

It was announced that the identification of 69 people who died in the accident that occurred in the morning hours of October 28 between Urda and Los Yebenes near Toledo, where 2 high-speed trains with a total of 544 passengers collided, has been completed.

In the investigation, it was stated that, according to the findings obtained so far, 54 of those who died in the accident caused by human error after the initial security system were Spanish and 15 were foreign nationals.