On 28 October 2026, Judge Aristea Afroditi Ortiz Tiliakou of Orgaz Court of First Instance No. 2 placed the investigation into the collision near Urda, Toledo, under judicial secrecy. She barred anyone from removing objects from the crash site or taking or publishing photographs. The restrictions are meant to preserve evidence for the investigation.
The order covers a two-kilometre area in both directions along the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. Entry is limited to state security forces and rescue or medical teams; judicial personnel may enter only with court authorisation. The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla-La Mancha announced the restrictions in a statement reported by Europa Press.
The Toledo Judicial Police are to take custody of any black boxes found on the trains and arrange for their technical analysis later. The order does not say that all the recorders have already been recovered.
The judge has also directed the Policía Judicial to attend the Atocha control centre, obtain information about train movements in the area and identify the personnel responsible for traffic control at the time. The court is also seeking a report from ADIF’s investigation commission. Investigators have been asked to secure ADIF protocols covering the period immediately before the collision through its aftermath.
The collision occurred at about 08:53 on 28 October between Los Yébenes and Urda on the Madrid-Córdoba high-speed section. Preliminary accounts say a Renfe train struck the rear of a stationary Iryo service. Railway Gazette reported that two coaches derailed and fell down an embankment.
Preliminary accounts linked the disruption to an outage affecting the line’s LZB train-protection equipment, which stopped trains under fail-safe protocols. Railway Gazette reported that at about 08:36, the Adif control centre authorised the Renfe train to resume at line speed while the Iryo train remained stopped ahead. Investigators are reconstructing events using train movements and infrastructure records, alongside recorder data and ADIF procedures.
The judicial inquiry is examining physical evidence alongside decisions made at the Atocha control centre. This work is separate from the technical investigation expected from Spain’s Rail Accident Investigation Commission. In a separate report, the Cáceres excavation yielded six bodies.
The case remains at the evidence-preservation and reconstruction stage under judicial secrecy. Civil Guard and judicial investigators are comparing the timeline with railway infrastructure logs alongside onboard recorder data. The judge’s order directs the Toledo Judicial Police to safeguard any recorders found for later analysis.
