Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente has resigned following last week’s deadly train crash that claimed 69 lives, taking responsibility for two major rail disasters in the country within less than a year.
Puente announced his decision on Tuesday, just hours after outlining an emergency compensation package for victims and a series of measures to improve railway safety.
“A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot continue in office with two accidents of this severity in less than a year,” he told lawmakers during a meeting of parliament’s Permanent Deputation.
The resignation comes nearly a week after the Oct 28 disaster near the town of Urda in central Spain, which killed 69 people.
It also follows another fatal accident in January involving the same railway companies on the same line, which claimed 46 lives.
Puente, who had previously ruled out stepping down, said he made the decision within minutes of learning about the latest crash.
However, he chose to remain in office until emergency response operations were under way, preliminary investigations had started and initial measures to compensate victims and strengthen railway safety had been introduced.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez praised Puente’s service in a post on X, thanking him for putting victims first and demonstrating political responsibility.
His departure comes less than four weeks before Spain’s early parliamentary election, scheduled for Nov 29.
Investigation points to signalling failure
Preliminary details of the Oct 28 crash indicate that several trains were automatically stopped following a signalling system failure on the Madrid-Seville railway line.
Central controllers in Madrid subsequently took over operations and authorised a train operated by state-owned Renfe to continue its journey, despite a stationary train operated by private company Iryo being ahead, according to Puente.
Investigators estimated that the collision occurred at a speed of between 160 and 200kph.
Spain announces emergency safety measures and compensation
Earlier on Tuesday, Puente announced that train services along the Madrid-Seville line would be reduced until the Railway Safety Agency completes a review of its safety systems and the government finishes the delayed rollout of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).
Among the proposed measures is a speed limit of 40kph when drivers must rely on their own vision to identify obstacles following a signalling system failure.
The government also plans to recruit additional railway personnel and improve working conditions at rail control centres.
For victims and their families, compulsory passenger insurance payouts will be doubled, while compensation payments will be accelerated and temporary incapacity coverage improved.
In another major initiative, Spain plans to introduce an artificial intelligence system to monitor communications between train drivers and controllers, with the aim of detecting irregularities and reducing human error.
Puente described the proposed technology as a world first, saying Spain was unaware of any other railway network using a similar system.
“We will be the first to go down this path,” he said.
Spain will also develop a real-time digital model of its railway network as part of broader efforts to improve monitoring and safety.
