SPAIN: Minister of Transport Óscar Puente has resigned following the fatal train crash near Urda, having announced proposals to address safety and operational challenges across the high speed rail network. ‘A Minister of Transport in a country like Spain is not possible to retain his position following two serious accidents like Adamuz and Urda’, Puente…
SPAIN: Minister of Transport Óscar Puente has resigned following the fatal train crash near Urda, having announced proposals to address safety and operational challenges across the high speed rail network.
‘A Minister of Transport in a country like Spain is not possible to retain his position following two serious accidents like Adamuz and Urda’, Puente told the Spanish Parliament. ‘My resignation is a question of political dignity, coherence and empathy with the victims, whether or not I am directly responsible.’
At least 69 people were killed in the accident on the route between Madrid and Sevilla. This was the second fatal high speed train crash in Spain this year, following the collision on the same route in January in which 46 people were killed.
Puente appeared before parliament on November 3 to answer questions about the Urda accident, and announced his resignation at the end of the session. The Social Democrat also confirmed that he was withdrawing his name from the lists for the upcoming elections on November 29.
Puente had previously said he did not wish to step down, despite facing heavy criticism. However, he said on Tuesday that he had already made his decision ‘in the first few minutes after the tragedy’. He explained that he had wanted to delay announcing his resignation until the initial investigations had been carried out and the first measures had been taken to make the railways safer. He had announced new safety measures earlier that day.
Puente added that he had informed Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez a few minutes before making his announcement, having served as Minister of Transport since November 2023.
During the parliamentary session, Puente tabled proposals for addressing the safety of the Spanish high speed rail network, which had already been endorsed by the Council of Ministers.
National safety authority Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Ferroviaria is to undertake a thorough review of all the train protection systems on the Madrid – Sevilla high speed line. Meanwhile, the number of services operated is to be reduced until early 2027. To minimise the loss of passenger capacity, more services will be formed with multiple trainsets.
Puente admitted that the April 2027 target date for putting ETCS Level 2 into operation on the route would not be achieved. The installation of the ERTMS lineside equipment on 471 km of the line was completed in June, but the testing still needed to be completed. The results of the tests then have to be submitted for laboratory analysis before final approval by AESF. Testing has concluded between Madrid and Córdoba, but has yet to commence on the Córdoba to Sevilla section. This is expected to take place at night, but only at weekends.
Following the LZB signalling failures, Puente has proposed that in future two people must authorise any order issued to drivers by the control centre. The staffing levels at ADIF’s control centres are to be reassessed, alongside driver working conditions and fatigue. Meanwhile, the luggage racks on high speed trainsets are to be converted into lockers, which would improve passive safety by preventing luggage falling on passengers in the case of an accident.
Puente said he had postponed earlier proposals to impose a total blockade for improvement works on the Madrid – Barcelona high speed line following protests from the Catalan government.
‘I believe that we have a safe rail network’, he concluded, ‘but it is not exempt from risks and failures, as we have just seen.’
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