At least 69 people died and dozens remained hospitalized after a high-speed passenger train smashed into a stationary carrier near Urda in Toledo province, following another fatal accident earlier this year.
A state-operated Renfe train carrying 397 passengers struck a stationary Iryo service with 147 passengers on board on October 28, 2026, along the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. The moving train was traveling at a speed between 160 and 200 km/h when it hit the second stationary train, according to an initial report released by the Independent Authority for the Technical Investigation of Accidents and Incidents (AITAT). The disaster followed an accident in January on the same route that left 46 dead.
Controllers Direct Train Past System Failure
Traffic controllers based at a control post in Madrid took over full responsibility for monitoring the positions and safety of the trains on a stretch of 63 kilometers (39 miles) after a computer failure in the automatic signalling system forced all trains to halt. Leaked audio recordings published in Spanish media revealed that a control center operator instructed the driver of the Renfe train to proceed past the failure. In the audio, the controller tells the driver: Continue your journey and then proceed under [Lateral Signalling Block], at normal speed with normal operation.
When the driver asks At normal speed?
the controller answers Yes.
Ahead on the track, the driver of the stationary Iryo train had contacted the control center to report losing communication with the train-control system and remaining stopped in front of the entry signal at Urda. The approaching Renfe train was not ordered to stop despite this notification. AITAT stated in its preliminary findings that The sequence of malfunctions, instructions, and actions eventually led to the collision, in the absence of the necessary mitigating barriers.
Minister Blames Staff While Unions Cite Poor Conditions
Transport Minister Óscar Puente attributed the catastrophe primarily to human error by the traffic controllers, calling the decision to let one train run at full speed while another sat stationary inexplicable
and erroneous.
Puente stated during a two-hour news conference: I won’t use a worker as a shield,
while maintaining that the information points to a mistake in the control center.
Raquel Ayllón, spokesperson for the railway traffic controllers’ union SCF, told The Associated Press that staffing levels fail to support growing workloads. We believe (the minister) is blaming a mere worker who was working under increasingly poor conditions,
Ayllón said. Human error isn’t incomprehensible. What is incomprehensible is that the safety system is regularly failing.
Emergency responders and the Civil Guard searched the wreckage at the crash site and listed 64 people as missing. Esther Padilla, spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha regional government, stated on TVE that authorities had completed 49 autopsies and formally identified five victims. Testing is proceeding slowly, although families will be contacted throughout the day so that they can come and collect their results,
Padilla said.
European Upgrades Fall Behind Schedule
Passenger journeys climbed from 35 million in 2019 to 49 million in 2024 on Spain’s high-speed network, according to the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission. Public tender documents show that the upgrade to a standardised European system called ERTMS on the Madrid-Seville line had fallen behind schedule. Infrastructure operator Adif awarded a contract in September 2021 to Thales Espana to complete the ERTMS installation by early 2026 for 93.8 million euros ($105m). Hitachi Rail subsequently took over that contract in 2024.
Public documents show that the LZB system which failed, triggering the sequence of events that led to the crash, was behind schedule for an upgrade.
Prime Minister Condemns Recurrent Accidents
The Civil Guard listed 64 people as missing at the crash site, where authorities have carried out 49 autopsies and formally identified five victims.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez inspected the site and condemned the recurrence of fatal incidents. It is unacceptable that a country like Spain with such a strong high-speed railway has two accidents of this type in the same year,
Sánchez said. Puente rejected calls for his resignation following intense pressure from lawmakers across the political spectrum, stating, My duty now is not to focus on discussing whether I will remain in office, but on solving the problem, determining exactly what happened and providing clear explanations.
Earlier coverage: Spain High-Speed Train Collision Kills at Least 46 Near Urda