Spain transport minister offers resignation in wake of train accident

The tragedy, Spain's second fatal rail collision in less than a year, has intensified scrutiny of railway safety and added political pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ahead of parliamentary elections on November 29. In January, a train crash in the southern Andalusia region killed 46 people.

Minister's Decision

Puente, member of Sanchez's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, told lawmakers while announcing his intention to resign: A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot continue in office with two accidents of this severity in less than a year. He also said he would withdraw his name from the list of parliamentary election candidates but did not specify when he would leave his post.

Safety Measures

Just hours before addressing lawmakers, Puente had presented improved rail network safety measures and told a press conference the government would "work tirelessly to achieve and regain the public's trust in high-speed rail." This included plans for control center software that would issue automatic alerts and make it easier to spot traffic anomalies.

The accident was blamed on the failure of an automated safety system that had stopped all trains along a 63-kilometer stretch of track between Madrid and Seville. Despite the stoppage, a control center allowed a high-speed train operated by state-owned Renfe to continue, colliding with a stopped train owned by private company Iryo near Urda in Toledo province.