Train accident in Spain: A country between mourning and coming to terms with it

Words of thanks for doctors and nursing staff - and lots of sympathy for the victims and their relatives: King Felipe and Queen Letizia were very concerned when they visited the university hospital in Toledo, where many of the seriously injured passengers are being treated. The train accident in Urda near Toledo continues to shake Spain.

On Wednesday morning, two high-speed trains collided on the route between Madrid and Seville, several wagons derailed and fell down a ten-meter-deep embankment. At least 69 people were killed.

The clean-up work is ongoing and people are still looking for missing relatives. In Toledo, a 25-person team of forensic experts has begun identifying the victims, partly with the help of DNA samples from relatives. When the two trains collided, several wagons were completely destroyed.

The most likely cause of the accident is a chain of human errors. Several Spanish media outlets have now published the control center's call logs.

Accordingly, after the failure of the automatic control system on part of the route, the control center instructed the train drivers to resume travel - at normal speed, i.e. up to 200 kilometers per hour.

The train driver of the crashed AVE asked: "At normal speed?" The control center confirmed. After a system error, the protocols only allow a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour. There was also no proper information about the Iryo train that was still on the route and had difficulties getting there.

Spain's Transport Minister Oscar Puente described these decisions as inexplicable. The railway unions say it is too early to assign blame one-sidedly.

"People make mistakes, these mistakes must be viewed in context because they are often due to errors in the system and work organization," said railway safety officer Antonio Tobal from the UGT union on Spanish radio. The workload and stress in the industry have increased enormously.

The Spanish high-speed network has long been considered a model of success - with passenger numbers growing every year. Since the network was liberalized in 2021, two private providers have also been circulating in addition to the state provider Renfe. On the Madrid-Seville route, the oldest on the Spanish network, the number of passengers has doubled since then.

Experts demand that both the security protocols and the infrastructures must be adapted to the increased workload. The condition of Spanish trains and rails will also play a role in the upcoming election campaign. Yesterday evening, right-wing groups had already called for protests in front of the party headquarters of the ruling party PSOE. There were clashes with the police.