Two trains collide near Toledo in Spain, killing at least 74 and injuring about 200

What happened

A Renfe high-speed train ran into the rear of an Iryo train that had been stopped on the Madrid-Seville line near Ourda, in Toledo province, at 08:54 on Wednesday, 28 October. The Renfe train struck the stationary Iryo train at high speed, and the leading carriage of the Renfe train was pushed into the last carriage of the Iryo train. Both carriages ended up overturned at the base of the embankment, according to the independent accident investigator AITAT.

The Interior Ministry said overnight that six more victims had been counted, bringing the death toll to 74. Earlier on Wednesday evening, 69 bodies had been located. Of roughly 500 people on the two trains, about 200 were injured and around 100 were treated in hospitals in the area and in Madrid. The ministry also reported 67 requests from families still searching for relatives and said officials were still identifying 52 bodies. Spain declared a three-day national mourning period starting on 29 October.

Passengers aboard both trains (approx.)500

Injured (approx.)200

Hospitalized (approx.)100

Dead (latest Interior Ministry count)74

Passengers aboard both trains (approx.)

500 people

Injured (approx.)

200 people

Hospitalized (approx.)

100 people

Dead (latest Interior Ministry count)

74 people

Data from the article text

Signalling failure and driver actions

The LZB safety system, which regulates train speed automatically and can trigger braking, went out of service at 08:30 because of a fault in its information system. The failure affected a section of the line that El Pais, as cited by Greek outlets, put at 63 km, while Transport Minister Oscar Puente described a stop covering 69 km. Six trains were immobilized, including the two involved in the crash.

According to El Pais, the Iryo driver tried twice to restart the LZB system on instructions from Adif's control centre, with each attempt taking three to four minutes and about eight minutes in total. After the second failed attempt she contacted the Iryo control centre and asked for maintenance support. She also told Adif's traffic control centre twice that her train was still stopped in front of the entry signal at Ourda station.

Puente said about 12 minutes before the Iryo driver's 08:48 report, a Renfe driver was told to disconnect and reconnect the LZB system and continue under the BSL lateral-signal regime. He said the Atocha control centre in Madrid nevertheless gave the Renfe train a movement order under conditions he described as unexplained, and that the Renfe train travelled 25 km before hitting the Iryo train. Reported speeds differ: AITAT put the Renfe train between 160 and 200 km/h, while NewsIT cited a figure above 190 km/h.

Earlier warnings and the January crash

On 5 October, Iryo chief executive Fabrizio Favara told Spain's Senate that each interruption in communication between a train and the trackside system immobilizes the train, and that restoring the link takes considerable time. He described the LZB system as safe but old. Twenty-three days later, a fault in the same system preceded the Ourda crash.

El Mundo reported that Atocha controllers had warned the national rail safety body in May about risks linked to extreme fatigue among staff. ABC, citing sources at Adif, blamed the outdated LZB system, which it described as prone to frequent faults. ABC also noted that the crash came nine months after a January accident near Adamuz that killed 46 people on the same line and involved the same operators.

Political reaction and investigation

Maria Karystianou, leader of the Greek party Hope for Democracy, wrote on X that the images from Toledo recalled the Tempi rail disaster in Greece and called for political and criminal accountability. She wrote: "The trains are not mobile coffins for our children."

The Solidarity union, which is linked to Spain's Vox party, held a protest in Madrid on Wednesday evening demanding Puente's resignation, and riot police were deployed. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the opposition conservative People's Party, which is the favourite in the general election set for 29 November, said Spain has a right to know the state of its infrastructure and safety systems. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government faces growing pressure ahead of the vote.

Guardia Civil opened an investigation into the actions of the Atocha control centre. AITAT took part, together with police and the rail companies, in recovering the event recorders (black boxes) from both trains, which are now under guard.