Urda train collision kills at least 68; opposition calls for Transport Minister Puente to resign

The collision near Urda

A Renfe AVE and an Iryo train collided on the Madrid-Sevilla high-speed line at kilometre 118, near Urda in Toledo, at about 8:54 on Wednesday, 28 October. At least two carriages derailed and fell down an embankment, and more than 540 passengers were travelling on the two trains. At 18:00 the authorities put the death toll at at least 68, with numerous injured of varying severity. Rail traffic heading south remained completely suspended while rescue teams worked at the site. An opinion column in ABC refers to 104 dead, a figure well above the official balance given in the reporting.

The minister's account

Óscar Puente said a computer failure had taken the LZB safety system out of service, which caused several trains to stop. Traffic control then passed to Adif's control centre in Atocha, which authorised the AVE to resume normal running even though a red signal was showing and an Iryo was stopped further ahead. Puente described that decision as 'inexplicable', while the government attributed the accident to possible human error by a worker at the Atocha centre. Appearing before the media around 14:00, Puente ruled out resigning and said his focus was on establishing the facts.

Puente summed up his position in a short statement to reporters.

“I am thinking about clearing this up, not about myself.”

Government sources at Moncloa told laSexta that Puente's management 'is not in question', since the initial investigation does not point to a failure on his part. The investigation remains open.

Calls for resignation

José Ignacio García, leader of Adelante Andalucía, first said the only priority was the rescue and emergency response. At 15:17 on Wednesday, 28 October, he demanded that Puente resign, arguing that the blame cannot fall on one employee. He noted that the Urda and Adamuz accidents both happened on lines linking Madrid with Andalusia.

“The blame cannot fall exclusively on one worker.”

The CSIF union, led by Miguel Borra, also called for Puente's resignation, accusing him of using an employee as a 'scapegoat' before the investigation had properly begun. Frente Amplio called a repeat of such an accident within a year 'inadmissible', demanded political responsibility and asked for an independent audit of the rail network. Artist Aldo Comas, husband of actress Macarena García, added his voice in a social media post.

“Óscar Puente, either you resign right now or you will go down in history as a damn moral orangutan.”

Government position and political fallout

Moncloa's sources said the government had no intention of asking Puente to resign and that its priority was looking after the victims, their families and the emergency response. They declined to comment on how the accident might affect the election campaign. Other Socialist leaders told laSexta they believed the campaign was broken and that recovering from it would be very difficult. Journalist José Enrique Monrosi, speaking on Más Vale Tarde, said he found it very complicated for Puente to stay in office until the elections.

A second accident in under a year

The Adamuz accident in January 2026 killed 45 people, according to laSexta, making Urda the second major rail accident in Spain in less than a year. CSIF recalled that in September it had warned about Adif shifts of up to 12 hours a day and five consecutive nights, which it said caused extreme strain on staff who organise rail traffic. According to a La Razón podcast featuring deputy editor Carmen Morodo, Adamuz victims still say they feel abandoned and have received no explanations, care or answers. The same podcast argued that the victims of the new accident deserve more than condolences.

Adamuz, January 202645

Urda, 28 October 2026 (as of 18:00)68

Adamuz, January 2026

45 deaths

Urda, 28 October 2026 (as of 18:00)

68 deaths

Data from the article text