Many MindedSecond deadly Spanish rail crash this year hits trust in high-speed travel
At least 68 people died and dozens were injured on a Wednesday morning, just after 09:00, when a Renfe high-speed train from Madrid to Seville struck a stationary Iryo train on the same track. The collision happened about 140km south of Madrid, between Mora and Orgaz. The state-owned Renfe train carried 397 passengers; the private Iryo train carried 147. Several carriages went down an embankment, one caught fire, and a section of track pierced a carriage.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the Iryo train had stopped because of a computer failure. He said a human error followed: a 24-hour control centre in Madrid made an "inexplicable" decision to tell the trains to move again with no speed restrictions. Iryo says its train was struck from behind. The Civil Guard needs relatives' DNA samples to identify some victims.
High-speed rail is one of the few mass-transit options that moves large numbers of people cheaply and with low emissions, and that depends on public confidence. This is Spain's deadliest rail disaster since 80 people died near Santiago de Compostela in 2013. In January a crash on the same line near Córdoba killed 46. Two events in one year make the case for rail harder to defend, and they point to a weakness in signalling and control procedures rather than in the trains alone. That makes this a setback for safe, affordable mobility.
Watch for the investigation. The cause is so far the minister's account. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says negligence still has to be determined, and the CSIF union disputes the human-error explanation and wants Puente to resign. The death toll may also change. Expect political argument over infrastructure and possible safety reviews.
Source: BBC World