Transport minister cites human error in Spain rail crash that killed 68

Passengers on Spain’s high-speed rail line between Madrid and Seville are currently unable to book tickets online until mid-December following a collision that killed 68 people. The accident, which occurred in the province of Toledo, has left the route closed and thousands of travelers seeking alternative transport. State-owned operator RENFE is not selling online fares for this specific service until the third week of December.

The crash happened at 8:53 a.m. on Wednesday when a RENFE train struck a stationary IRYO train from behind. Transport Minister Óscar Puente stated that the incident resulted from a human error at the central command center. A security system covering a 63-kilometer stretch of track failed due to a computer malfunction at 8:30 a.m., causing all trains to stop. The IRYO train halted near the town of Urda, while the RENFE train remained 25 kilometers behind.

Puente said that command staff ordered the RENFE train to resume travel without speed restrictions while a stop signal was still active. He noted that the engineers were not at fault and that the train should have been instructed to move at reduced speed or remain stopped. The impact threw at least three carriages onto a gravel slope, where search teams with sniffer dogs continued to look for victims on Thursday morning.

Regional spokesperson Esther Padilla reported that 53 people remained hospitalized in critical care on Thursday. She described the death toll of 68 as provisional. Emergency workers and the military brigade are examining the wreckage to ensure no additional victims are overlooked. The government declared three days of mourning beginning Thursday.

This is the second fatal accident on the network this year. In January, 46 people died when a train derailed and collided with another in southern Spain. Both incidents involved trains operated by RENFE and IRYO, a private Italian carrier that began service in 2022 after the state liberalized the market in 2021. The network, which is the second largest in the world after China, carried 45 million passengers last year.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the site on Wednesday and pledged an investigation into the safety measures. He stated that it is unacceptable for Spain to endure two high-speed train accidents in the same year. The collision occurred just four weeks before the national election, adding pressure to the government ahead of the vote.

Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for a full investigation and canceled his party's campaign events for the day. Far-right leader Santiago Abascal criticized the government, describing it as a criminal organization. Puente said he was focused on managing the collision rather than deciding whether to resign.