MADRID, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Sunday’s train crash and derailment in southern Spain killed at least 39 people and left 122 injured, with officials stressing the “freak” nature of the accident on a straight stretch of railway, while one theory pointed to a broken rail joint.
Here’s what we know so far:
The incident occurred at 7:45 pm (1845 GMT) near the city of Adamuz in the province of Cordoba, about 360 km (223 miles) south of the capital Madrid.
It involved two high-speed trains, one operated by the private consortium Iryo and the other by Alvia, run by Spain’s public rail company Renfe.
The last two out of eight carriages of the trademark red Iryo train which was going from Malaga to Madrid came off and hit the Alvia that was coming in front, causing the first two carriages of the latter to detach and fall from an embankment up to five meters (16.4 feet).
WHAT THE OFFICIALS ARE SAYING
There was an interval of 20 seconds between the first derailment and the impact, too short to activate the automatic braking system, according to the head of Renfe, Alvaro Fernandez Heredia, who also said that human error was practically excluded.
“It must be some kind of failure in the rolling stock or the infrastructure, and this will take time” to investigate, he said.
Officials said the Alvia had apparently hit the derailed carriage or the debris of the Iryo’s undercarriage. The 27-year-old driver of the Alvia train died in the accident, Renfe said.
The Iryo train was carrying around 300 people and had just left the historic city of Cordoba. Its speed at the time of the accident was 110 kph, well below the maximum limit of 250 kph in that stretch.
The oncoming train, which was carrying 187 people, was traveling at a speed of 205 kph, Renfe said.
The Alvia carriages that were derailed had 37 people in the first and 16 in the second. Most of the dead and wounded came from the first two Alvia wagons.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said that the Iryo was less than four years old and that the railway track had been completely renovated last May with an investment of 700 million euros ($813.5 million). Iryo said the train was last inspected on January 15.
Puente called the incident “very strange” and said that if it hadn’t been for the oncoming train, the derailment likely wouldn’t have caused any deaths.
COMBINED DEFECTS POSSIBLE CAUSE?
A source briefed on the initial investigations said Reuters experts found a broken joint, which possibly created a gap between the train sections and they believe is essential to identifying the precise cause of the accident.
The Ministry of Transport said only that the joint was broken as a result of the incident, but not before and would not provide further comment. State rail infrastructure administrator ADIF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claim.
Jose Trigueros, president of the Association of Road Engineers, said that his preliminary analysis suggested “failure of the undercarriage of the rear units” of the Iryo train.
While he did not rule out a problem with the track, he said that the evening inspections with tamping machines were intended to detect any fatigue of the train, in which case the control center automatically reduces the speed of circulation.
PREVIOUS PROBLEMS
Train drivers’ union SEMAF had warned ADIF in a letter last August of serious wear on the railway track where the two trains collided, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters, which said potholes, bumps and imbalances in overhead power lines were causing frequent breakdowns and damaging trains.
ADIF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to a Reuters review of alerts on ADIF’s X account, it previously reported problems with infrastructure in Adamuz, from signal failures to overhead power line issues, which have caused delays on high-speed trains between Madrid and Andalusia 10 times since 2022.
Iryo is a joint venture between the Italian state railway operator Ferrovie dello Stato, the airline Air Nostrum and the Spanish infrastructure investment fund Globalvia. It started operating in November 2022, starting with the Madrid-Barcelona route and expanding to other major cities.
Iryo’s ETR1000 train is manufactured by the Hitachi Rail-Bombardier partnership in Europe for Ferrovie’s Trenitalia unit. Renfe’s Alvia trains are manufactured by local producers CAF and Talgo.
Everest Insurance is the main insurer for Renfe, and its coverage provides passengers or their beneficiaries with compensation. Everest declined to comment on the details of the policy period, deductibles and triggers when approached by The Insurer.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Aislinn Laing, David Latona, Emma Pinedo, Andrei Khalip; Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Ros Russell)