Spain's transport minister resigns after train crash that killed 69
Seven Lights
Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, resigned on Tuesday a week after a high-speed train struck a stationary train outside the village of Urda, killing 69 people in one of the worst railway disasters in Europe this century. He announced the decision at the end of a lengthy hearing before lawmakers, and said he was also withdrawing his name from the candidate lists for the snap general election on 29 November.
The crash occurred on Wednesday when a train operated by the state-owned company Renfe ploughed into the rear of a stationary service belonging to the private operator Iryo, about 130 kilometres south of Madrid. The failure of an automatic safety system had halted all trains on a 63-kilometre stretch of track, but a control centre nonetheless authorised the Renfe service to resume its journey.
“I wish to inform you that I am not only stepping down from my position as minister of transport, but that I am also withdrawing my name from the lists for the early legislative elections on 29 November,” Mr Puente told members of parliament. He had ruled out resigning on several occasions since the disaster.
“A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of such seriousness in less than a year, however different they may be, whether or not I bear direct responsibility,” he said. He added that he had made the decision “in the first few minutes after the tragedy”.
Hours earlier, at a press conference presenting safety measures, the minister said the government would “work tirelessly” to regain public trust in high-speed rail, the world’s second-largest network by extent. The government will develop software for control centres to issue automatic alerts and flag anomalies in traffic. Mr Puente said an AI agent would oversee the system to “minimise the possibility of human error”, and that a second operator would have to confirm any decision taken while the automatic safety system was down.
The rightwing opposition had demanded his resignation. Rail unions criticised him for appearing to pin the blame on a single control-centre operator. The train drivers’ union Semaf has called strikes at Renfe for 10 and 12 November, denouncing worsening working conditions and the use of “degraded systems”. Critics say investment in maintenance has not kept pace with the growth in passenger numbers.
A collision in Andalusia in January killed 46 people on the same line connecting Madrid with Seville, Spain’s first high-speed route, opened in 1992. The two accidents have overshadowed campaigning for the 29 November ballot, in which the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is trailing in opinion polls.