Audio recordings show control center authorized train restart before fatal Spain high-speed crash
Newly released audio reveals that a Madrid control centre ordered a Renfe high-speed train to resume travel despite a stationary Iryo train ahead, leading to a collision that left at least 69 dead and dozens injured.
Audio obtained by Spanish media shows that the operator of a stopped train contacted a control centre in Madrid to report an inability to restart the train while another train was moving behind it. The recordings indicate that, at about 8:36 a.m., the centre authorized a state-owned Renfe high-speed train to proceed without speed restrictions, even though a private-operator Iryo train was stationary on the same track, a decision described by Transportation Minister Óscar Puente as a breach of protocol.
Puente said a computer malfunction had disabled a safety system at roughly 8:30 a.m., causing multiple trains on the line to stop and shifting traffic management to the Madrid centre. The subsequent collision of the two trains on Wednesday killed at least 69 people, left 67 passengers missing as of Thursday, and injured dozens more.
Emergency responders, including firefighters, police, soldiers and rescue teams, worked at the scene to extract survivors and recover bodies before cranes were brought in to dismantle the damaged trainsets. Spain has declared three days of mourning following the disaster.
The crash follows a January incident on the same line that killed 46 people and a later commuter-train derailment near Barcelona that resulted in a fatality and multiple injuries. The high-speed network, the largest in Europe, has been a prominent element of the country’s transport infrastructure.