Newly leaked recordings from a Spanish rail control centre suggest a controller instructed the driver of a Renfe high-speed train to “resume normal operations” moments before it crashed into a stationary Iryo train, killing at least 69 people; Iryo says its driver did not receive an order to resume movement.
Leaked recordings obtained by Spanish media outlets and reported by El País reveal that a controller in Madrid told the Renfe AVE driver to resume normal operations, "la marcha normal", after the train had been stopped due to a signalling malfunction. The driver asked: "Normal operations?" and the controller replied: "Yes." The instruction allowed speeds of up to 200 km/h on a stretch where a stop signal remained active, according to Transport Minister Óscar Puente.
The crash occurred at 8:53am on Wednesday in the province of Toledo when the Renfe train struck the rear of the Iryo service, which was stationary. The Iryo driver had reported to the control centre at 8:41am that her train had suffered a loss of transmission and was stopped at the Urda entrance signal. At 8:48am she said the train would not allow her to restart the LZB safety system. The controller asked her to begin moving as soon as possible and to call if she had a problem. The speeding Renfe train hit moments later.
Private operator Iryo has contradicted the government’s early statements, telling El Mundo that its driver did not receive an order to resume movement. Transport Minister Puente had earlier said the crash was caused by what he called the “inexplicable” order from a central command centre after a security system failed, and that train engineers were not at fault. He said a computer malfunction had stopped the security system on a 63-kilometre stretch at 8:30am, causing all trains on that stretch to stop, but the central command then told the Renfe train to restart without speed restrictions.
The death toll has risen to at least 69, up from the 68 reported earlier. An earlier report said 58 people were receiving medical treatment, according to the Castilla-La Mancha regional government. The crash is Spain’s second deadly high-speed rail incident this year, following a January collision that killed 46.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared three days of national mourning and vowed a full investigation. “If there was negligence, we will find out. If there have been failures in the security system, we will respond decisively,” he said at the crash site. With a national election scheduled for November 29, political arguments are clouding the debate over blame. People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo suspended his campaign during the mourning period but said “Spain has the right to know what is happening with its infrastructure.” Rail unions reacted angrily to the idea that one of their own would bear the blame. A union leader told El País that “human errors occur when you don’t have the equipment you need to do your job,” and union leaders are calling for Puente’s resignation.
There are fears for former employment minister Fátima Báñez, who was on the Iryo train and has not been heard from. The employers’ organisation CEOE, which she chaired, confirmed she was on board. The party’s leader said there was no confirmed information about her fate. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is not aware of any Australians involved in the crash.
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Analysis
Why This Matters
The crash is Spain's worst rail disaster in over a decade, occurring just months after another high-speed collision, raising fundamental questions about rail safety and infrastructure investment.
Leaked recordings point to possible human error at the control centre, but the dispute between the government and the private operator complicates accountability as a national election approaches.
With 25 million annual high-speed rail passengers, the disaster could erode public confidence in a network that is a source of national pride and a key transport backbone.
Background
Spain's high-speed rail network is the largest in Europe and second largest in the world after China's, carrying about 25 million passengers in 2024. The network was long considered one of the safest globally, with no fatal crash on dedicated high-speed lines from 1992 until this year. The railway was opened to private competition relatively recently; Italian-owned Iryo began operations in Spain in 2022. The January crash at Adamuz killed 46 people and involved the same two operators. Wednesday's collision in Urda is the deadliest since 80 people died in a 2013 derailment in north-western Spain.
Key Perspectives
Transport Minister Óscar Puente: attributes the crash to an "inexplicable" order from the central command centre after a security system failed, says train engineers were not to blame, and that the train should never have been told to move with a stop signal active.
Iryo operator: contradicts the government, stating its driver did not receive an order to resume movement.
Rail union leader (Joan Rodríguez, train workers' union): says increased traffic from privatisation has strained infrastructure, calling for a review of maintenance; another union leader told El País that human errors occur when workers lack the equipment to do their jobs.
People's Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo: suspended his election campaign but said Spain has the right to know what is happening with its infrastructure.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez: promises a full investigation, says the government will respond decisively to any failures, and calls for strengthened safety to rebuild confidence.
Passenger accounts: survivors describe a sudden violent impact, shredded carriages, and frantic efforts to escape.
What to Watch
The official investigation's findings on whether the leaked recordings are accurate and who issued the instruction.
Transport Minister Puente's position: unions are calling for his resignation amid the election campaign.
The impact on the November 29 national election, which was previously dominated by housing policy but now centres on infrastructure safety and government accountability.
12 claims in this story checked against 7 sources: 5 supported.
Show each claim
SupportedHeadline: leaked recordings suggest a Renfe driver was told to resume normal operations before the crash.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The leaked recordings obtained by Spanish media outlets suggest the controller in Madrid told the Renfe AVE driver to “resume normal operations”.”
SupportedThe summary says political arguments are clouding debate ahead of the November election.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Political arguments are clouding the debate about who bears the blame for the tragedy. ... Spain goes to a national election on November 29.”
SupportedThe crash killed at least 69 people.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Leaked recordings from a Spanish train controller have shed new light on the horrific train crash that killed at least 69 people”
SupportedIryo says its driver did not receive an order to resume movement.Just In: “Iryo maintains that it never received such an order and therefore kept the train stopped, El Mundo said.”
SupportedIn the leaked recording, the driver asked “Normal operations?” and the controller replied “Yes.”Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The driver asked: “Normal operations?” The controller replied: “Yes.””
Partly supportedThe instruction allowed speeds of up to 200 km/h on a stretch where a stop signal remained active, according to Transport Minister Óscar Puente.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The definition of “normal operations” includes speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour rather than the more cautious 40km/h during a signal outage.”
Partly supportedAn earlier report said 58 people were receiving medical treatment, according to the Castilla-La Mancha regional government.The Age - Latest News: “The latest reports indicate at least 108 people were injured, including 58 seriously.”
Not in the sourcesSánchez said: “If there was negligence, we will find out. If there have been failures in the security system, we will respond decisively.”Politico Europe: ““We are going to get to the bottom of this, and if there has been negligence, it will be revealed, and if there have been failures in the system, we will act decisively.””
Not in the sourcesFeijóo said: “Spain has the right to know what is happening with its infrastructure.”France 24 Europe: “Spain's opposition People's Party said it had cancelled all campaign events for the day, ahead of elections next month.”
Not in the sourcesA union leader told El País: “human errors occur when you don’t have the equipment you need to do your job.”Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “The Spanish train drivers’ union, SEMAF, said that it does not want to speculate on the cause of the crash. “We wish to exercise caution until we have a detailed understanding of exactly what happened, so as not to engage in speculation,” SEMAF said in a statement late on Wednesday.”
Sources say otherwiseThere are fears for Fátima Báñez, who has not been heard from, and her fate is unconfirmed.Politico Europe: “Former Spanish Employment Minister Fátima Báñez was confirmed Thursday to be among the victims of the deadly train collision outside Toledo, Spain”
Reports differThe crash is Spain’s second deadly high-speed rail incident this year, following a January collision that killed 46.Euronews: “The tragedy in Urda has once again put rail safety at the centre of the national debate, barely nine months after the Adamuz accident, which killed 46 people.”
Correction
An earlier version of this story presented unsupported wording as a direct quotation from Pedro Sánchez. He promised an investigation and action on any failures. It also included unsupported passenger accounts attributed to Roberto Gómez and Eduarda, which have been removed.