Two high-speed trains collided just before 9 am on Oct 28 in Spain, killing at least 68 people and leaving more than 50 injured. Rail services between Madrid and the southern Andalusia region have been suspended. It is Spain’s deadliest train crash since 2013.
An Iryo express train had stopped at a red signal when it was struck by a Renfe high-speed train between the towns of Los Yebenes and Urda, near Toledo, about 118km south of Madrid by rail. The trains were both heading south from Madrid to Seville.
The crash is the second collision between high-speed trains on the same line in nine months. An accident between trains operated by the same two companies killed 46 people in January. Iryo is a private high-speed rail operator, while Renfe is owned by the Spanish government.
All of Spain is mourning. If there has been any negligence, it will come to light.
Addressing reporters in Madrid, Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said a computer malfunction had automatically stopped all traffic on part of the line. Puente said the fatal train crash occurred after the central command centre erroneously told the Renfe train to restart, without any speed restrictions.
Authorities said there were 147 passengers on the Iryo train, and 397 were on the Renfe train.
Prior to the crashes in 2026, Spain’s last major rail disaster occurred in 2013, when 80 people were killed and 145 injured after a high-speed train veered off the track on a sharp bend as it approached the north-western city of Santiago de Compostela.