Reaction to train accidents: Spain's transport minister resigns

Reaction to train accidents Spain's transport minister resigns As of: November 3rd, 2026 • 9:58 p.m

Two serious train accidents have shocked Spain this year. Now Transport Minister Puente is drawing the political consequences. The government also decided on new measures to improve security.

Six days after the serious train accident that killed 69 people near the municipality of Urda, Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente announced his resignation. After two accidents within a year, a transport minister in Spain could not remain in office, he told a congressional hearing. He had informed Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of his decision just a few minutes beforehand and would not be running in the early parliamentary elections on November 29th.

Puente was subsequently praised by representatives of his socialist party as well as MPs from other parties for his surprising resignation announcement. The conservative People's Party (PP), on the other hand, criticized the fact that Prime Minister Sánchez, the main person responsible, was still in office. Puente was sworn in as Minister of Transportation at the end of 2023.

Two high-speed trains collided on Wednesday last week near the municipality of Urda, south of Madrid. A train operated by the state railway company Renfe ran into a stationary train operated by the private operator Iryo from behind. It was the second serious train accident in just nine months in Spain - in January, 46 people were killed in a collision between two high-speed trains in Adamuz in Andalusia.

The Spanish government on Tuesday decided on measures to improve rail safety and approved an aid package worth 30 million euros for victims and relatives of the recent train accident.

The data is now being evaluated - and will hopefully provide answers to the cause of the accident. more

While in the case of Adamuz, one of the causes is a broken track, the investigation into the accident in Urda focuses primarily on the failure of the LZB train control system and possible errors in the control center of the network operator Adif. According to previous findings, an employee gave incorrect instructions after the control system failed.

According to the government, the number of trains between Madrid and Seville will be reduced until the new European train control system ERTMS goes into operation there. If the current LZB system fails, a second employee in the control center will have to check and confirm the instructions to the train drivers. This is intended to prevent trains from continuing to travel despite unclear route conditions.

In addition, the number of staff in the control centers is to be increased and the working conditions of the employees are to be improved. The government also decided to cap prices for alternative transport during the closure of the accident route to prevent excessive costs for travelers.

In Spain there is deep shock over the second serious train accident on the high-speed train line between Madrid and Andalusia. more

The aid package includes direct state aid, advances on subsequent compensation payments and a doubling of benefits from statutory passenger insurance. Victims and their relatives should be looked after through specially set up contact points. There is also a special provision for temporary incapacity for work for injured people.

All 69 people who died in the accident - 40 men and 29 women - have now been identified, authorities said. 37 of the total of around 200 injured are still being treated in hospitals.

This topic in the program: NDR Info | News | Nov 3, 2026 | 11:30 p.m. tagesschau.de | After train accident in Spain: Government approves aid package | Nov 3, 2026 | 5:43 p.m