The 28 October rail crash at Urda in Toledo killed 69 people. Puente resigned as transport minister on Tuesday and gave up his place on the Socialist lists for the 29-N elections.
On 3 November, Spain’s Council of Ministers approved urgent support for victims and relatives through a Royal Decree-Law announced by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. The package allocates €30 million: €15 million in direct urgent aid and €15 million in advances against insurance compensation.
For each death, the decree provides direct assistance of slightly more than €72,121, plus an equivalent amount as an advance against civil-liability insurance compensation. Payments for bodily injuries range from slightly more than €2,404 for the least serious cases to more than €84,141 for the most serious. The Ministry said the measures are intended to provide immediate support in a single payment while advancing part of the insurance compensation.
In an interview on La Séptima, Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said, in a translation from Spanish, “there is no plan to close the Madrid-Barcelona line”. He said his priority was to restore public confidence in the railway.
Cuerpo said he would follow recommendations from people working on the ground, including train drivers and Adif operators. He also named inspectors.
He promised major reforms over the next three weeks, saying the active Diputación Permanente gave the government room to pass legislative measures before election day. Reducing trains’ commercial speeds is among the options under consideration. Cuerpo said whether trains took ten minutes more or less was a secondary issue.
The decree also limits prices for alternative transport and certain accommodation while the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line remains interrupted. This passenger measure concerns the Madrid-Andalusia corridor, separate from Cuerpo’s remarks about the Madrid-Barcelona line.
Recovery work after the crash is to begin once the judge authorises Adif to start, Cuerpo said. No date was given for that authorisation.
Cuerpo described Puente’s resignation as the correct, though difficult, response. He said the former minister had accepted responsibility and that political representatives should be held to account. The former head of Adif placed his position at the ministry’s disposal on Wednesday, saying he could not avoid responsibility after two accidents involving deaths.
