Spain high-speed train collision near Toledo kills 68; controller errors under review

How the collision unfolded

A fault in the LZB signalling system at 08:30 local time on 28 October 2026 immobilised about six trains on the line near Ourda station in Toledo province, according to Transport Minister Óscar Puente. With the automatic system down, traffic management passed to staff in the control centre of Adif, the Spanish rail infrastructure manager. Puente's timeline shows the controller giving the Renfe AVE driver permission to proceed at 08:36. The AVE then covered about 25 kilometres, at speeds of up to 200 km/h, before striking the Iryo train, which was standing still, at 08:53. All communications between the control centre and the trains were recorded.

The 17 minutes under scrutiny

According to El País, the Iryo train was still standing near the station entrance, with a red signal in place, when the restart order was given. The same reporting says the AVE was allowed to continue without any speed restriction. Under a collapsed telematics system, the protocol requires movement under visual contact at no more than 40 km/h, so that the driver can brake in time. Another driver had warned the controller about that rule, yet the controller ordered the trains to move normally. The AVE driver had no electronic systems in the cab and relied on the control centre's instructions. Puente described the conditions under which the restart was allowed as inexplicable, and the Adif controller, who worked under the supervision of a second person, is now being examined by the Civil Guard and the independent authority AITAT, accompanied by a lawyer and a psychologist.

Casualties, rescue and passenger accounts

The death toll stands at 68, and the count is still open because the government does not yet know how many people are missing. Injury figures differ between reports: one tally gives 107 injured, 18 of them in critical condition, while another says at least 80 were taken to hospital, 15 of them in very serious condition. Local authorities feared more victims were trapped under the wrecked carriages of one train. The government has declared three days of national mourning. The two trains carried 544 people between them, 397 on the AVE and 147 on the Iryo, according to El País. A female passenger travelling with her two cats said the impact threw everyone forward and broke the table in front of her seat, while a male passenger described feeling the train nearly overturn. A 62-year-old man said other passengers were breaking windows to get out.

AVE (Renfe)397

Iryo147

AVE (Renfe)

397 passengers

Iryo

147 passengers

Data from the article text

Reactions beyond Spain

Actor Antonio Banderas posted on Instagram a photo of a black mourning ribbon and a lit candle placed on the rails, with a Spanish caption meaning no words, only pain. The post drew thousands of comments as hashtags about the Ourda accident spread across Spanish social media. In Greece, the KKE's European Parliament group compared the Toledo crash to the Tempi disaster and to an earlier accident at Adamuz that killed 46 people. The party accused the Spanish government of pre-judging the case as human error and noted that a European Parliament report calling for higher speeds had passed only days earlier, with KKE the sole party voting against it.