The Urda crash left 69 people dead and more than a hundred injured. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is now investigating possible fraud involving European Union funds for work on the Madrid–Seville high-speed line, with support from Spain’s Guardia Civil Central Operational Unit (UCO).
On 6 November 2026, the EPPO announced investigative measures at the Madrid headquarters of ADIF, Spain’s railway infrastructure administrator. It also requested information from the State Railway Safety Agency (AESF) and the Court of Auditors. The inquiry concerns EU-funded renovation and upgrades to railway safety systems on the Madrid–Seville line, including its signalling and communications network. The EPPO said it opened the investigation on its own initiative, or ex officio.
The investigation is confidential. The EPPO said it was confirming the action exceptionally because of high public interest and would provide no further details at that stage.
The probe follows the collision at Urda in Toledo province on 28 October 2026. At 8.54am, a Renfe AVE train struck the rear of an Iryo train stopped on the track. Several carriages derailed.
Of the 110 passengers initially admitted to six hospitals in Castilla-La Mancha, 95 had been discharged, according to the source material. The EPPO’s announcement concerns possible fraud affecting funds for infrastructure improvements; it did not say suspected funding irregularities caused the crash.
This is the second EPPO investigation into possible fraud linked to the same high-speed route. The office said it opened the earlier inquiry in March 2026. On 20 March, the office opened an inquiry after the 18 January crash at Adamuz in Córdoba, where 46 people died. That case concerns railway maintenance near kilometre 318.7 and the town of Adamuz, according to the EPPO.
The earlier investigation followed a separate crash. The source material says investigators in that case were examining the condition of the track, which ADIF maintains.
