Train collision in Spain followed system failure and wrong instructions
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on ANG
The collision between two trains in Urda, near Toledo, Spain, was preceded by a failure of the automatic safety system and incorrect instructions to the drivers. Recordings broadcast by Spanish media show that both trains were authorised to move while on the same track, ANG reports.
Recordings of exchanges between train drivers and Spain’s rail control centre reveal a failure of the LZB safety system and incorrect instructions before two trains collided in Urda, in the province of Toledo. The accident killed at least 68 people and injured more than 100, according to Spanish media outlets that broadcast the audio recordings.
The failure, which occurred at 8.30am, brought trains to a halt over more than 60 kilometres. At 8.36am, an operator authorised the Renfe AVE train, run by Spain’s state railway company, to resume normal operation, although an Iryo private company train was stopped on the same track 25 kilometres further on. The Iryo driver received the same instruction at 8.41am. At 8.48am, she reported that a technical problem was preventing her from moving; the operator asked her to try again and call back if the fault persisted.
Five minutes later, at 8.53am, the AVE hit the Iryo. The recordings released contain no further exchange with the AVE driver after the Iryo driver reported that her train was stopped. The Spanish government and rail traffic specialists described the instructions as “a chain of errors”; Transport Minister Óscar Puente called them “inexplicable” and “wrong”.
The collision comes as Spain observes three days of national mourning, announced after the death toll reached 68 on 29 October. The victims’ families have also provided DNA samples to help identify them, according to information published the same day.
