The Spanish high-speed train suffers its second serious accident in 10 months. Two trains collided this morning on the Madrid Seville line and the first official information already speaks of dozens of deaths. Renfe confirms the involvement of the AVE from Madrid Puerta de Atocha (08:00) to Sevilla Santa Justa (10:39).
Even with the circumstances of the accident to be clarified, sources familiar with the accident indicate that the Iryo train was traveling in the direction of Seville from Madrid. Behind the Iryo, heading towards Seville, another Renfe train arrived, presumably a Siemens, which hit the Iryo.
The crash occurred at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour against the Italian operator's train stopped on the track. In both trains, both the tractor head and the trailing car include passengers and, according to direct witnesses, both "are destroyed."
Why the AVE was traveling at that speed without the signaling systems that regulate the movement of the vehicles alerting or activating prevention mechanisms is one of the main hypotheses that will be considered when the emergency and assistance work, still underway, is finished. The train drivers' unions describe the situation as "very strange" given the circumstances and the signaling mechanisms of the tracks.
The accident occurred at kilometer 119+700 of the Madrid-Seville high-speed line in the Urda area (Toledo), in what is an Adif Train overtaking and parking position. The infrastructure manager announced early this Wednesday that "circulation on the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line is interrupted due to a gap between two trains."
The event took place at 8:54 a.m., and firefighters from the Alcázar de San Juan and Orgaz parks, Civil Protection from several surrounding towns, three medical helicopters and two ICUs are working at the scene. For his part and in statements to Onda Cero, the mayor of Urda has announced that they will deploy the victim care system in municipal facilities. He has also commented that he hopes that Pedro Sánchez, president of the government, and Óscar Puente, minister of Transport, will travel to the place today.
It is still unknown what could have caused the Renfe AVE not to brake in time, whether it was a signaling failure or an error by the driver. He is still missing, as this media has learned from Renfe workers. At least three cars, one, two and three, have derailed. Efe reports that two cars have fallen down an embankment.
Adif's message, without further details, appears on its official website and has been distributed through the infrastructure manager's official social media channels. The manager has indicated to this medium that they will provide information as soon as possible:
The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, arrived at 9:40 a.m. at the Adif H24 control center in Atocha, where he will collect all the information available so far about the train accident, before transferring it to the media.
The AVE 2080 train leaving Madrid and bound for Seville collided with the Iryo 6076 train that was ahead and caused the derailment of the last two Iryo trains, according to the latest official information so far.
According to the Castilla la Mancha Emergency Service, at least 30 deaths have already been confirmed.
The signaling systems implemented on the tracks are those that prevent a train from colliding with another on the same track, in such a way that they warn the train circulating behind of the presence of a train stopped in front, even activating the automatic brakes or warning it on its screen.
