A train crash in Spain’s Toledo province has sparked fresh criticism of the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and raised questions about the country’s investments in public infrastructure, just weeks before national elections in November.
Wednesday’s accident was the third fatal train accident in Spain this year and highlighted concerns about the level of maintenance, investment and staffing on the railway.
The tragedy is another blow to Sanchez’s left-wing government, which was already facing corruption scandals, protests over housing prices and a mass migration crossing in Ceuta earlier this year.
Mr. Sánchez took a gamble by calling a snap election on November 29th. His Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) trails the conservative People’s Party (PP) in opinion polls, but has been gaining support in recent weeks. However, this latest catastrophe could end the revival.
“In addition to a crisis of confidence in Mr. Sánchez, we also have a crisis of confidence in the railway institutions,” said Gregoire Rouss, an analyst and head of the European program at Chatham House. He said the train disaster was unlikely to be a turning point in an election in which Sanchez is already on the verge of voting, but it could galvanize the right-wing opposition.
How computer failure contributed to the crash
“There’s no denying that this will further undermine public trust,” Roos told CNN. “Such an environment of mistrust could only work in favor of[far-right party]Vox, and to some extent also[conservative]Partido Popular.”
Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the crash, which killed at least 69 people and injured dozens, was caused by both a computer system failure and apparent human error. This sparked an immediate backlash from trade unions, which stressed the need for a thorough investigation and that a single train controller should not be used as a scapegoat for broader systemic problems.
Protesters and far-right groups gathered in the Spanish capital Madrid on Wednesday night to demand Puente’s resignation and a change of government. Video from the demonstration showed demonstrators holding placards saying things like “Corruption kills” and “Go away!” Next to a photo of the Spanish Prime Minister.
In response to the crash, Prime Minister Sánchez said the government was working to “uncover every detail of this tragedy and, of course, strengthen security to ensure that something like this never happens again.”
Speaking from the scene immediately after Wednesday’s accident, he expressed “full solidarity” with the victims’ families and said: “Any negligence will be brought to light. And any flaws in our safety systems will be dealt with with the utmost firmness.”
“It is clear that we have suffered two terrible tragedies related to high-speed rail in the same year,” Sánchez added, acknowledging another major accident on the same line in January in Cordoba province that killed more than 40 people.
“We will rebuild confidence in our high-speed system,” Sanchez said.
Transport Minister Puente publicly stated that Wednesday’s accident was the result of a computer system failure that caused a problem with the LZB train management safety system along the 40-mile stretch of track, resulting in all trains in the area automatically stopping.
At that point, ADIF, the state-run company that manages Spain’s railways, took manual control of the system and made the decision to allow the high-speed train to run despite the red light, ultimately causing it to collide with a stopped train, Puente said.
But unions quickly pushed back against that explanation, demanding that “all the circumstances that led to this tragedy be investigated.”
“It is unacceptable that the actions of a single worker should be put under the microscope while management decisions and company policies are relegated to the background,” railway union UGT said, adding that issues such as understaffing, excessive workloads, poor organization and outdated equipment “should be scrutinized as well.”
Train drivers in Spain went on a pre-planned nationwide strike on Thursday to demand stronger safety measures. Train drivers’ union SEMAF has criticized the leak of audio from the control center at Madrid’s Atocha train station to Spanish media in the immediate aftermath of the accident, with spokesperson Teo Moreno telling CNN that the recording only told “half the picture”.
“The leaks of these audios are deplorable, and the people who are leaking them to scapegoat one worker are the same people who have failed to invest properly,” he said.
CSIF, another trade union representing civil servants, said in a statement that it called on the government to “respect the investigation and presumption of innocence of ADIF’s traffic chief.” The union accused Mr Puente of blaming “hard-working people” instead of “taking responsibility”.
The civil service union said it also warned ADIF staff in September of “extra hours” on their working day.
CNN has contacted Spain’s Ministry of Transport and ADIF for comment.
Spain’s rail traffic controllers union SCF is also calling on the government to increase investment in rail safety systems and accelerate their replacement with more modern technology.
Spain’s Ministry of Transport is working to improve the current LZB safety system, which was introduced in 1992 and has already been phased out in other parts of the country. The ministry previously announced hundreds of millions of euros in investments to modernize the high-speed rail network, including this particular stretch from Madrid to Seville.
Like other trade unions, the SCF also alleges widespread problems, including long working hours and understaffing at station control centres.
“Railway operator ADIF has no plan for generational replacement of its workforce. As a result, generations of old controllers are retiring and not being replaced,” union spokeswoman Raquel Ailon told CNN shortly after the accident.
“In some cases, air traffic controllers may not be able to take bathroom breaks because there is no staff to fill in for them,” Ayon said. “If you want to have three trains leaving a station every minute, it’s clear that one person can’t handle that level of traffic.”
A union spokesperson said the railway operator opened a new training center after the last train accident in Cordoba province, but these new employees will not join the workforce until next year. He also highlighted the issue of insufficient training and experience among staff.
“Years ago, you needed at least 10 years of experience to work at a busy station like Atocha, Madrid’s busiest station. Now we only hire from the first year,” Ayon said.
Investing in new rail lines instead of maintenance
Spain has rapidly expanded its rail network over the past decade. According to a European Union report based on the latest statistics for 2024, Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in the EU. Between 2018 and 2022, its network grew by nearly 1,000 km (570 miles).
However, the EU report notes that most of the funding for rail infrastructure was allocated to new lines, with “upgrades and renewals playing a minor role”.
Ramon González Feliz, a Spanish journalist and political analyst, said the country invested heavily in infrastructure before the 2008 financial crisis, and the railway became a symbol of modernization and a point of pride for Spaniards.
But the massive rail system, along with other infrastructure such as an extensive network of regional airports, has become prohibitively expensive for successive governments to maintain, he told CNN.
“This government has increased pension spending. That’s the big issue in this room,” Gonzalez-Feliz said, also noting increased spending due to the pandemic and inflationary pressures. “You can think it’s okay, you can think it’s not okay, but the reality is that we started spending a lot of money on a lot of things that aren’t infrastructure.”
Since then, public sentiment towards the country’s infrastructure and public services has deteriorated. He said left-wing voters were unlikely to turn to the right due to a series of train disasters and a lack of trust in public services, but more people may decide to stay home on voting day.
“The government is campaigning on optimism and hope, and Spain is growing while most of Europe is not…and the president is young, handsome and likes pop music…but that’s not possible right now,” González Feliz added.
CNN’s Pau Mosquera, Duarte Mendonca, Billy Stockwell, Caitlin Danaher and Sophie Tanno contributed to this report.
