'Inexplicable': Renfe Train Cleared To Move Despite Red Signal 17 Minutes Before Deadly Spain Crash

A Renfe high-speed train was authorised to continue despite a red signal 17 minutes before it ploughed into a stationary Iryo train near Urda, Toledo, killing at least 68 people. Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the order came from the national rail control centre after a computer failure, and described the decision as 'inexplicable'.

The crash happened at 8.53am local time on Wednesday on the Madrid to Seville line, more than 80 miles south of Madrid. The Renfe service, bound for Seville with 397 people aboard, struck the rear of the Iryo train, which had 147 passengers.

'It was the control center, through its operators, that made the decision to resume traffic, under circumstances that, from our point of view, are inexplicable,' Puente said at a press conference. He later added, 'Clearly, it was a wrong decision.'

The minister said investigators had identified the person who allowed the Renfe train to move. That individual had not yet been interviewed, and Puente said they would be subject to whatever the investigation determines.

What Went Wrong on the Line

The two services had left Madrid within minutes of each other. The Iryo train departed at 7.54am, followed by the Renfe train at 8am, both travelling towards Seville.

Puente said three computers on the rail network suffered a communication failure at about 8.30am. That knocked out the German-built LZB safety system, which monitors train speeds and sends instructions to drivers, along a 63km (39-mile) stretch of track.

About six trains stopped automatically. Control of the section should then have passed to manual management at the central command centre.

Instead, at 8.36am, the centre authorised the Renfe train to continue 'normally', according to Puente. He said internal protocols required otherwise and that a red signal should have prevented the journey from resuming.

The Renfe train still had 25km (15.5 miles) to travel when it was cleared. It reached the stationary Iryo service roughly 17 minutes later. Its speed at impact is not yet known, though Puente said trains could travel at up to 200km/h (124mph) on that section.

The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha said 53 people remained in hospital receiving treatment. Earlier in the day, it had reported 107 people hospitalised.

Spain's Second Deadly Rail Disaster

The crash is the deadliest in Spain since 2013, when 80 people died at Santiago de Compostela. It is also the country's second major high-speed rail disaster this year.

In January, 46 people died and 122 were injured when high-speed trains operated by the same two companies collided at Adamuz, in Córdoba. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said it was 'highly likely' the two accidents were unrelated, but called two such disasters in one year unacceptable for Spain.

Sánchez visited the site and announced three days of national mourning. He also pledged an investigation.

'What is unacceptable for a country like Spain is to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year,' he said.

The scale of the emergency has left families searching for information online. Relatives have shared photographs, seat numbers and descriptions of missing passengers across Instagram and X, asking others to circulate appeals while police and the Civil Guard work through the wreckage.

One post sought information about Adriana Marroquín, who was travelling in carriage eight of the Renfe AVE service. Another appealed for news of 25-year-old David Martínez Méndez, who was on the Iryo train in carriage seven, seat 16A.

Pressure on Spain's Rail System

Renfe said services between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia had been suspended. The state operator also expressed condolences to victims' families and said its priority was assessing the damage and supporting those affected.

Iryo said its train was struck from behind 'for reasons still unknown' and that it had activated emergency protocols while working with authorities.

Puente defended the wider network, insisting Spain's rail system was 'safe and comparable to that of other countries in our region'. He acknowledged, though, that failures could occur despite 'very clear' regulations and protocols.

Spain has invested heavily in high-speed rail. A European Commission report last year found it allocated the most funding among EU countries between 2018 and 2022, averaging €1.5 billion ($1.67 billion, £1.28 billion) a year.

The country has nearly 4,000km (2,400 miles) of high-speed track, according to the International Union of Railways, second only to China's more than 47,000km (28,000 miles).

Private operators such as Iryo were only allowed into Spain's domestic high-speed passenger market in December 2020. Iryo began commercial services in 2022.

Whether the latest disaster was the result of one operator's judgement, a systems failure, or both remains unresolved. Puente's account points firmly towards the control centre. The investigation will now have to establish why a red signal was not enough to stop a train carrying 397 people.