Spain high-speed rail crash kills 69; minister and unions clash over cause

The crash occurred after the LZB communication system, key to the line’s safety system, went offline, leaving controllers in Madrid responsible for monitoring train positions and safety on a 63-kilometre section. According to the government’s timeline, a controller told a RENFE train it could restart at normal speed while an IRYO train 25 kilometres down the line also tried to restart but could not. Investigators’ initial findings indicated the RENFE train was moving at 160-200 km/h (100-125 mph) when it struck the IRYO train.

Spain's high-speed network, the world's second-largest after China's, had been deadly-crash-free for more than three decades until two incidents this year: the January collision that killed 46 and Wednesday's disaster. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described it as 'unacceptable' that a country with such a strong high-speed railway has seen two such accidents in one year.

Puente, who is under pressure to resign, said the controller's decision was 'inexplicable' and 'erroneous'. He noted that his ministry had increased the number of controllers from 1,000 in 2016 to 1,700, and that the LZB system goes offline 170 times this year, which he called 'normal' within recent averages. Spain is ahead of most European countries in replacing it with a new system mandated by the EU.

But railway unions challenged that view. Raquel Ayllón, spokesperson for the SCF traffic controllers union, told the Associated Press that workload is regularly too much for current staff to safely handle. 'Human error isn't incomprehensible,' she said. 'What is incomprehensible is that the safety system is regularly failing.' Joan Rodríguez of the train workers' union said he was not convinced the liberalisation of high-speed rail was matched by necessary upkeep of the lines. Passenger numbers rose from 35 million in 2019 to 49 million in 2024, according to the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission. SEMAF, the union for train engineers, said the LZB system should have been replaced some time ago.

Investigators removed the trains' black boxes late Thursday and gave them to the Civil Guard for inspection. A judge is also probing the crash. So far only five bodies have been identified; 70 families have filed missing persons reports. Thirty-nine people remained hospitalised on Friday.