At least 70 people died in the train crash near Urda in Toledo. An emergency-service update on 29 October said 68 bodies had been recovered and 77 people injured. Hours later, recordings surfaced of exchanges between Adif’s Atocha control centre and the drivers of the two trains, Renfe AVE train 2080 and Iryo train 6076.
The audio records control authorising the Renfe driver to resume normal running while the Iryo train was stopped several kilometres ahead. The communications followed a failure of the LZB train-protection system. At 08:31, the AVE driver contacted Atocha control after the system failed and the train stopped. At 08:36, control told the driver to reset LZB and continue at normal speed under the BSL procedure. The Iryo driver contacted control at 08:41, reporting a transmission loss and saying the train was stopped at Urda’s entry signal. At about 08:54, the AVE struck the rear of the stationary Iryo. An earlier report also covered the exchange between the control centre and the drivers.
Laura Higuera, an intermediate manager at the Centro de Regulación de Atocha and a member of union SCF, said the leak exposed staff and diverted attention from the underlying problem. The recordings were held under a chain of custody, she said, and should not have been released. Higuera called the disclosure abnormal and illegal, and said someone must account for it.
Speaking on Más Vale Tarde, she declined to judge whether control had acted properly, saying the investigation should establish that. She also criticised Transport Minister Óscar Puente for calling the decision to resume normal running inexplicable. Puente had said the stopped train and a red signal were central issues for investigators, while making clear he was not assigning responsibility at that stage. Higuera said his remarks singled out control staff and dwelt on human error.
Renfe said it had enabled ticket changes and cancellations for passengers affected by the line closure. It provided 900101020 for relatives of people aboard the trains and asked callers to use that number only for family assistance related to the accident.
Iryo set up a separate helpline, 900001403, for people seeking information or help connected with the crash.
