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“A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in
office after two accidents of this seriousness in less than a
year,” Puente said.
The Oct. 28 crash took place when a high-speed train slammed
into another that had stopped on the tracks. The chain of events
that led to disaster started when the communication system key
to the functioning of the security system on the Madrid-Seville
line went down. Central controllers in Madrid took over and gave
the go-ahead for a state-operated Renfe high-speed train to
proceed, even though there was a stationary train ahead operated
by the company Iryo.
It was the second major crash on the Madrid-Seville line this
year. In January, more than two hours further south along the
route, a train derailed and struck another traveling in the
opposite direction, killing 46 people. That crash remains under
investigation.
Puente said he had taken the decision to resign immediately
after the deadly crash, but had not made it public.
The collisions have raised fresh concerns about the safety of
the country’s rail network, and the most recent crash came four
weeks before a national election.
Spain’s high-speed rail network has been considered one of the
country’s crowning achievements. It is the world’s
second-largest, after China’s. Until this year, it had not
experienced a deadly crash since coming into service over three
decades ago.
Earlier Tuesday, Puente announced safety measures the government
would implement on the rail network, including improving
conditions in control centers and pushing for a faster rollout
of the standardized European Rail Traffic Management System for
safety and signaling.
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