At least 68 people have been killed and dozens injured after a high-speed train collided with a stationary train near Urda in Spain’s Toledo province on Wednesday, October 28.
The crash involved a Renfe high-speed train travelling from Madrid to Seville and an Iryo train that had stopped on the same track. Several carriages derailed, with three reportedly plunging down an embankment.
Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a failure of the railway’s LZB safety system preceded the collision. However, he identified a subsequent decision by the railway control centre to allow the Renfe train to resume its journey as the immediate cause of the disaster.
According to Puente, the system failure occurred at around 8:30 a.m. local time, automatically bringing several trains to a halt. The disruption affected approximately 63 kilometres of track.
At 8:36 a.m., the Renfe train was authorised to resume its journey despite a red signal remaining active. The train travelled approximately 25 kilometres before striking the stationary Iryo service at around 8:53 a.m.
Puente described the decision to allow the train to proceed without the required speed restriction as “inexplicable”. He said the train should have operated under procedures requiring the driver to proceed at a speed that would allow the train to stop if an obstacle was encountered.
The minister said the decision was the origin of the collision but stressed that individual responsibility had not yet been established.
Spanish authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision, including the signalling failure and the decision to resume train movements.
The investigation is expected to establish why the Renfe train was permitted to continue despite the active red signal and a stationary train ahead. Investigators are also examining the sequence of communications between the railway control centre and the trains involved.
There is currently no evidence that sabotage caused the crash. Spain’s EFE news agency reported that no competent authority had identified sabotage as a possible cause, while the investigation remained ongoing.
The findings are expected to clarify the technical and operational failures that led to the collision.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced three days of national mourning following the disaster, expressing solidarity with the victims, their families and those injured.
The collision is Spain’s second deadly high-speed rail disaster this year. In January, a separate crash near Adamuz in Córdoba province killed 46 people.
Sánchez said preliminary indications suggested that the two accidents had different causes, although investigations would determine the circumstances of each disaster.
The latest collision has renewed questions about railway safety and the procedures used to manage train movements when signalling systems fail.
Renfe activated its emergency response arrangements and began organising alternative transport for passengers affected by the suspension of high-speed services between Madrid and Andalucía.
Authorities continue to assess the damage and establish the full circumstances of the crash.
