Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente has announced he will resign following two serious train crashes within a year. He made the announcement in a congressional hearing, six days after a collision near Urda that killed 69 people. Puente said a transport minister could not remain in office after two such accidents. He also said he would not stand in the early parliamentary election scheduled for November 29 and had informed Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez shortly before making his decision public.
Puente, who took office in late 2023, received praise from members of his Socialist Party and lawmakers from other parties. The conservative People’s Party (PP) argued that Sánchez, whom it considers primarily responsible, should also leave office.
The Urda crash occurred last Wednesday, when a train operated by state-owned Renfe struck the rear of a stationary train run by private operator Iryo. It was Spain’s second major rail disaster in nine months: 46 people died in a collision between two high-speed trains at Adamuz, in Andalusia, in January.
On Tuesday, the government approved measures to improve rail safety, alongside a €30 million aid package for those affected by the latest crash. Investigators examining the Urda collision are focusing on the failure of the LZB train-protection system and possible errors at rail network operator Adif’s control centre. Preliminary findings indicate that an employee may have given incorrect instructions after the control system failed. A broken rail is among the suspected causes of the Adamuz crash.
The number of trains running between Madrid and Seville will be reduced until the European ERTMS train-protection system is brought into service on the route. If the existing LZB system fails, a second control-centre employee will have to check and confirm instructions to drivers. The government also plans to increase staffing at control centres and improve employees’ working conditions.
The measures include price caps on alternative transport while the affected line is closed. The aid package provides direct government assistance, advances against future compensation and doubled benefits under the statutory passenger insurance scheme. Dedicated support centres will assist victims and relatives, while injured people will receive a special arrangement for temporary incapacity for work.
Authorities have identified all 69 people killed in the Urda crash: 40 men and 29 women. Thirty-seven of the roughly 200 injured people remain in hospital.
Sources: Tagesschau.