Spain’s Urda Train Crash: What Investigators Know About the Deadly Collision
A high-speed Renfe train struck a stopped Iryo train near Urda after a safety system failure. Investigators and a court are examining what went wrong.
Spanish authorities are investigating how a high-speed train came to strike another train that was stopped on the same line near Urda, in central Spain, in a crash that killed at least 69 people, according to regional officials cited by RTVE and the BBC.
What happened
The collision happened at about 8:53 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28, on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line near Urda, in the province of Toledo, according to Reuters, the BBC and RTVE. A Renfe AVE train carrying 397 people struck a stopped train run by the private operator Iryo, which was carrying 147 people, Reuters and the BBC reported.
More than 100 people were injured. As of October 29, 50 remained in hospital and 15 were in critical condition, RTVE reported. Reuters described it as Spain’s deadliest rail crash since the 2013 derailment near Santiago de Compostela.
A safety system failure
According to Reuters, the line’s LZB automatic train control system failed at about 8:30 a.m. on a 63-kilometer stretch, and six trains were automatically stopped. The national rail infrastructure manager’s control center in Madrid then took over manual control.
Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, said the Renfe train was later cleared to proceed at normal speed, according to the BBC and Reuters, and he called that decision inexplicable. Leaked control-room audio has been reported, but rail unions say it was edited and warned against blaming a single controller.
Under standard procedure when the system fails, trains are supposed to proceed by sight at about 40 kilometers per hour, Reuters reported. Reports of the Renfe train’s speed have not been confirmed by investigators.
The investigations
A court in Orgaz has placed the case under secrecy and ordered the trains’ data recorders seized, according to RTVE and El País. Police have questioned control-center staff, Spanish outlets reported.
The technical inquiry is led by Spain’s rail accident investigation commission, known as the CIAF. Its report could take at least a year, El Español reported.
A difficult year for Spanish rail
It was the second deadly high-speed crash in Spain this year. In January, 46 people were killed near Adamuz, in Córdoba province, according to the AP and Reuters.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the government would get to the bottom of what happened and that any negligence would come to light.
What to watch
Key questions are why the train was cleared at normal speed, how the control center managed the outage and why the safety system failed. No cause has been officially determined.
How we reported this
This report is based on information confirmed by the Associated Press or by at least two major news organizations, as noted in the text. Claims that have not been independently verified are identified as such. BURN VOC will update this story as new information is released.
Reporting by the BURN VOC news desk. We publish facts confirmed by the Associated Press or multiple major news organizations, and we correct errors promptly. Our standards · About us
