Investigators probing Spain’s deadly high-speed train collision say a cracked rail likely existed before the crash, a preliminary finding that could shift scrutiny toward infrastructure on one of the world’s busiest high-speed networks.
A report released today by Spain’s CIAF rail accident investigation committee said an inspection of the Iryo train involved in Sunday evening’s collision in Andalusia found “notches in the tread of the right-sided wheels” on four carriages. Similar notches with a compatible geometric pattern were identified on the right-sided wheels of three other trains that passed over the same track hours earlier, the committee said.
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Based on the available information, investigators are working with the hypothesis that the track cracked before the Iryo train derailed and crossed onto an adjacent line, where it struck an oncoming Renfe service. Forty-five people were killed in the crash, one of the deadliest rail accidents in Europe this century. The committee cautioned the hypothesis must be corroborated by further calculations and analysis.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente called it “reassuring” that investigators had a working theory within days of the disaster, while stressing that the conclusions are not final. He said the rail fracture was likely so slight that it did not interrupt the electrical current running through the track—an interruption that would have automatically triggered alarms and halted traffic.
The collision has raised fresh questions about safety on Spain’s vast high-speed rail system, the world’s second largest. The stretch of track where the accident occurred is flat, straight and recently renovated, according to officials, and the Iryo train entered service in 2022. Human error has been ruled out at this stage, with both trains traveling within the speed limit.
The preliminary report, and the minister’s remarks, point to a failure that could have evaded signaling safeguards if the rail crack was too minute to break circuit continuity, a common fail-safe in rail systems designed to detect broken rails and stop traffic. Investigators did not specify the extent or precise location of the damage.
The crash has unfolded alongside a separate safety dispute in Catalonia, where a commuter train hit a retaining wall that had fallen onto the tracks near Barcelona on Tuesday amid heavy rains. A trainee driver was killed and dozens of people were injured, several seriously, officials said. Puente has insisted the two accidents are “completely unrelated” and urged the public not to “question” the overall reliability of Spain’s rail network, which he called “a great transport system.”
Spain’s Semaf train drivers union has called a national strike for Feb. 9-11, citing repeated safety failures. Catalonia’s Rodalies short-distance network, used by hundreds of thousands of passengers daily, shut down Wednesday and Thursday while infrastructure was reviewed. Drivers initially refused to return to work, arguing safety checks had not been carried out properly. Rodalies services resumed today.
Authorities have not announced when a final CIAF report will be completed. The preliminary findings will likely focus attention on maintenance, inspection regimes and how track defects are detected across the high-speed network—a debate that could shape public confidence and policy in a country that has invested heavily in fast rail over the past two decades.
As investigators continue forensic work on the damaged line and rolling stock, families of the victims and survivors are seeking answers to how a modern system with layered safeguards failed so catastrophically—and whether warning signs on the track were present but missed before Sunday night.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
