The judge has ordered the Urda rail accident proceedings kept secret as investigators secure evidence and examine what happened. The ruling also restricts access to the affected railway area. The collision occurred on 28 October 2026 near Urda, in Toledo province, on the Madrid-Andalucía high-speed corridor linking Madrid with southern Spain.
The exclusion zone covers 2km of the Madrid-Seville high-speed line in both directions. Only state security forces and judicial staff may remain there, with rescue and medical teams also permitted. Traffic on the Madrid-Andalucía line was interrupted after the accident as emergency services and investigators worked at the site.
The order prohibits removing any items from the site and bans taking or sharing images of the affected area. Toledo Judicial Police are to take custody of any recovered black boxes from the trains for later analysis. The crash involved a Renfe train and an Iryo train travelling south from Madrid toward Seville. Preliminary accounts said the Iryo train had stopped and the Renfe train struck it from behind, derailing two coaches down an embankment.
In separate instructions, the judge has directed Judicial Police to attend Atocha’s control centre and gather information on train movements near the accident. They are also to obtain an ADIF investigation commission report identifying the staff responsible for control at the time. The inquiry is examining a preliminary sequence in which the LZB train-protection system failed at about 8:30 a.m., automatically stopping trains across a roughly 63km section. At around 8:36 a.m., after control shifted to manual operation, the Renfe train was reportedly authorised to resume moving while the Iryo train ahead remained stationary. The collision was reported at about 8:53 a.m.
Toledo Judicial Police have separately been asked to obtain ADIF information on operating protocols around the accident. Reports said three computers crashed during the outage, disabling automated operation and leaving staff at Atocha to manage the affected section manually. Investigators are also reconstructing control-room communications and instructions to the drivers. No final causal finding has been issued. The accident prompted a judicial inquiry alongside a separate technical examination by infrastructure manager ADIF. The secrecy order applies to this case, which is separate from the historical grave investigation at the Cáceres cemetery.
