Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – A serious train accident occurred today, Wednesday, October 28, in the province of Toledo, on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. The death toll currently stands at 46 and over 150 injured. The accident involved a Renfe high-speed train and an Iryo train, on the same line that saw two trains collide in Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba, on January 18, in a collision that left 46 dead and over 120 injured.
According to an initial reconstruction by a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport, as reported by 'El Pais', the Renfe high-speed train may have rear-ended the Iryo train.
The impact reportedly caused two carriages of the second train to derail, plunging down an embankment. The accident prompted the immediate suspension of service on the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line. Staff from Adif, the railway infrastructure manager, operators from both companies, and emergency medical personnel responded to the scene.
On January 18, a collision between two high-speed trains in Adamuz, Spain, about 200 km north of Malaga, resulted in 45 deaths and 43 injuries.
Several carriages of an Iryo train traveling from Malaga to Madrid with 300 passengers aboard derailed and collided with an Alvia train traveling in the opposite direction, carrying 184 passengers and headed for Huelva. Several carriages of this second train then fell down a four-meter embankment, obstructing access for rescue workers, according to the Andalusian Minister of the Presidency.
Andalusian President Juanma Moreno had labeled it “an unprecedented catastrophe.”
According to the preliminary report of the Railway Accident Investigation Commission, the cause of the accident was a broken track. Investigators had found a broken joint on the tracks. On-site technicians who analyzed the rails had identified signs of wear on the joint between the rail sections, which they believed indicated the defect had been present for some time. The defective joint created a gap between the rail sections, which widened as the trains continued to travel on the track.
The president of Spain's public transport company, Renfe, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, immediately ruled out "human error" in the accident, explaining that "the system corrects incorrect decisions" and adding that the affected track was repaired in May 2025, so "it should have been in perfect condition."
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