Spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente has resigned over the Spain train crash near Urda that killed 69 people, quitting on Tuesday 3 November just days after insisting he would stay. Puente, a Socialist ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, announced his departure in the Spanish parliament and said he would not stand in the country’s upcoming election.
Spain train crash: what happened
The disaster happened on the morning of Wednesday 28 October near Urda, in Toledo province, south of Madrid, on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. A Renfe high-speed train carrying 397 passengers ploughed into the back of a stationary Iryo train with 147 people on board, Yahoo News reported.
Some carriages came off the rails and some tumbled down an embankment. At least 69 people were killed and around 200 injured, according to Euronews. It is described as Spain’s worst rail disaster since 2013.
Safety system failure
A computer failure in the automatic signalling system had forced trains on that stretch to stop. Leaked audio recordings suggest the Renfe train was cleared to continue while the Iryo service was still halted about 25km further along the track.
Puente told MPs that the control centre run by state rail operator Adif let the AVE train carry on after its LZB automatic safety system failed. It then travelled about 25km at more than 160km/h before the collision, Euronews reported. He defended the reliability of the system and announced new safety technology.
The Spain train crash came nine months after the Adamuz derailment near Córdoba in January, also on the Madrid-Seville line, which killed 46 people.
‘Political dignity’
Puente’s resignation came at the end of a long session in which he set out new rail safety measures and faced questions from opponents. He said stepping down was “good for the country and for democracy”, framing it as a matter of political responsibility.
The move surprised many, as he had said days earlier that he would not quit. Sánchez praised him for having faced up to the situation before stepping aside, Yahoo News reported.
The conservative People’s Party and far-right Vox had demanded he go, as had the Basque PNV and Catalan Junts, two parties the government relies on for votes. PP spokeswoman Ester Muñoz said a minister’s job was to prevent deadly accidents, not explain them.
Blow before the election
Spain holds an early general election on 29 November, and many observers see the Spain train crash as a serious setback for the Socialist-led government. Sánchez reportedly admitted that trust in the high-speed rail system had been broken.
Workers’ representatives at Adif have agreed to push for a strike on 17 November over rail safety, although it has not yet been formally called. No successor to Puente had been named in reports on Tuesday.
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Sources: Euronews, Yahoo News
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