68 killed in HSR incident in Spain

[LionKing]

Spain train crash live updates: At least 68 killed in high-speed train crash, with death toll set to rise as nation’s PM says ‘all of Spain is in mourning’

A high-speed train has slammed into another that had stopped on the tracks in Spain, killing at least 68 people and injuring dozens in the second deadly rail collision this year. Follow our coverage.

www.smh.com.au

RIP.
Avoiding train travel in Spain would save your life.

 

[Quickstatus]

Avoiding train travel in Spain would save your life.

There is something problematic about Spain train travel.
2 train derailments earlier this year cost nearly 50 lives and injured another nearly 200 (not including this latest one)

However, based on that sentiment, avoiding any mode of transport could then save your life too.....
In the 12 months to September 2026, the national road toll in Australia was 1334. And the road toll is rising...
Would you stop driving, stop riding in a car, or stop crossing the road?

 

[RooFlyer]

Spain train crash live updates: At least 68 killed in high-speed train crash, with death toll set to rise as nation’s PM says ‘all of Spain is in mourning’

A high-speed train has slammed into another that had stopped on the tracks in Spain, killing at least 68 people and injuring dozens in the second deadly rail collision this year. Follow our coverage.

www.smh.com.au

RIP.
Avoiding train travel in Spain would save your life.

Carp. Done it many times, and I’m getting a high-speed train from Malaga to Barcelona in about a month.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I've done Madrid-Barcelona and would recommend it.
The service in First Class is excellent, with everything included in the fare, and brought to your seat.
I've also done Madrid-Toledo as recently as February, although this was south of Toledo.
But there were delays due to works on the tracks which could be related.

 

[jb747]

In the 12 months to September 2026, the national road toll in Australia was 1334. And the road toll is rising...

I recall the road toll in Victoria alone being around 1,000. The current numbers may be rising but they have reduced dramatically overall, over the years. Not because of enforcement, or training, or even better roads. The engineers can take the credit for this.

 

[Quickstatus]

The current numbers may be rising but they have reduced dramatically overall

The numbers suggest that on a per person based there is an improvement.

 

[Mattg]

Yikes, I took that exact Renfe train journey last month (in the front carriage, too).

 

[TheRealTMA]

Spain train crash live updates: At least 68 killed in high-speed train crash, with death toll set to rise as nation’s PM says ‘all of Spain is in mourning’

A high-speed train has slammed into another that had stopped on the tracks in Spain, killing at least 68 people and injuring dozens in the second deadly rail collision this year. Follow our coverage.

www.smh.com.au

RIP.
Avoiding train travel in Spain would save your life.

Not necessarily. Spain recorded 1,775 road deaths in 2025

 

[TheRealTMA]

Terrible tragedy. Should never have happened. Interestingly, the same conditions led to the rail disaster in the UK a few months ago where one train was stopped and was hit from behind by a high speed train that was not notified of the stopped train. Wonder if they use the same train controller system.

 

[ayebee]

This is inexcusable.
A railway signalling / comms / train control system must be fail safe.
That one train is allowed to run whilst another is mandated to be stationary on the same track is a basic system design flaw.

 

[OZDUCK]

From the NY Times

"According to Mr. Puente, the railway control operator told the Renfe train conductor to resume regular travel “despite there being another train ahead of it.” The minister called the instruction “incorrect.” The Renfe train traveled 15 miles, or about 25 kilometers, before rear-ending the other train, which had remained stopped on the tracks.

Mr. Puente said the stopped train, which was run by the private company Iryo, had apparently received instructions to move on, as well. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, which on Wednesday evening obtained audio of the exchanges between the conductors and the operators in Madrid, the operator authorized the driver of the Iryo train to resume “normal speed.” But seven minutes later the Iryo driver called to report that she could not restart the train. The Madrid operators failed to tell the driver of the Renfe train, which was closing in, that it needed to brake."

 

[FlyingFiona]

Regardless of any instruction to proceed, the signals were at red meaning that a driver should proceed with caution at a minimal speed, not at 200km/hr!! No rule book would ever permit that. The mind boggles.

 

[henleybeach]

Terrible incident and being a former train driver and current rail operations director, I’ll be very interested in the investigation.

 

[anat0l]

What concerns me is the culture (of safety and actually taking the operation of the trains and railways seriously).

No one wants incidents like this, but they have happened in Spain, France, the UK, Japan and China. Some have been injured, some have died. The reason we don't suddenly stop or lose complete faith in those respective systems is because there is at least some acknowledgement that a serious failure has occurred and the parties agree to serious learnings and modifications in procedure.

I realise that the media (in those respective countries) can portray a lot of flim-flam, but I'm not feeling confident that anyone in Spain is taking this seriously at all; in fact, it's just the opposite - everyone is looking how to extricate themselves from as much responsibility and liability as possible.

 

[Quickstatus]

Some perspective on the relative safety of the different modes of transport in the EU.
Notwithstanding the recent accident and the earlier accident on the same track this year for a different reason (track misalignment), Rail is extremely safe
The Japanese have an even more impressive record - at least on its Shinkansen network.
Using Train as a mode of transport in Spain?
Sure, no problems with that.

Source


Railway passenger fatalities in 5 jurisdictions

(edited)
Japan has never had a fatality according to this - maybe they are referring to the Shinkansen only
Japan has 2 commuter derailments that I can find which involved fatalities/injuries
- 2005 Amagasaki derailment 106 fatalities, 562 injured
- 1946 Hachiko derailment 184 fatalities and 495 injured.
(\edited)



Railway passenger fatalities in the various countries of the EU
EL = Greece
ES = Spain



Trends in railway passenger fatalities in the EU



Comparing with other modes of transport - Rail is extremely safe

 

[Cynicor]

What concerns me is the culture (of safety and actually taking the operation of the trains and railways seriously).

No one wants incidents like this, but they have happened in Spain, France, the UK, Japan and China. Some have been injured, some have died. The reason we don't suddenly stop or lose complete faith in those respective systems is because there is at least some acknowledgement that a serious failure has occurred and the parties agree to serious learnings and modifications in procedure.

I realise that the media (in those respective countries) can portray a lot of flim-flam, but I'm not feeling confident that anyone in Spain is taking this seriously at all; in fact, it's just the opposite - everyone is looking how to extricate themselves from as much responsibility and liability as possible.

Agree with pretty much everything you say except I’m not aware of any major Japanese incidents?

 

[Quickstatus]

major Japanese incidents

I could find only 2 - see above.
the Shinkansen remains fatality free since 1964.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

There has only been on fatal accident of a TGV travelling on the LGV in France.

That accident, a derailment in 2015, resulted in 11 passenger deaths.
This was a special service to inaugurate a new section of LGV near Strasbourg.
It was travelling at higher than normal speed and the speed detectors, which would usually have told the driver to slow down, had been deactivated.
An inquiry found the driver was travelling too fast into a curve, and failed to brake sufficiently or soon enough.
So as tragic as this incident was, it was not during normal service.

This is significant as France is the European leader in high speed trains.
It was the trailblazer and still has the most extensive network.
The network is used by various operators, including several French companies, the Eurostar, and the Italian high speed train company.

Link to article.

TGV - train de grand vitesse - high speed train
LGV - ligne de grand vitesse - high speed track / network

 

[chitown_boy]

I have been following the Adamuz (in Jan) and now Urda crashes quite closely as I travel via train in Spain very frequently (25 or so trains 2025, 9 this year - used to travel just on Renfe, and recently discovered the Spanish way is to choose whichever is cheaper among Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo). My primary routes are Madrid to/from Màlaga/Sevilla () and Madrid to/from Barcelona. Had a spirited debate with my Spanish friends about the Adamuz incident earlier in the year, decided I was overthinking and def don’t challenge a Spaniard about their system (only they can criticise it, it’s def a source of national pride unlike Deutsche Bahn circa now lol)

Been zipping back and forth Spain all summer on all three carriers CBT-ing myself that i’m overthinking, nearly all other modes of travel are more dangerous. BUT - my anxieties stem from IF something does go awry, the speed isn’t necessarily high enough for instant death and many suffer horrendous unsurvivable injuries that are not instant. One of the reports yesterday included a steel rail that skewered an entire carriage and taking out people in it’s random path. This crash has just reinforced those fears. I seriously don’t mind flying between Mad-Bcn on the IB Puente Aéreo. Granted it’s terrible on the environment (but easy QF SCs!)

For my sanity i’ll be flying next year, just a personal preference.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I have been following the Adamuz (in Jan) and now Urda crashes quite closely as I travel via train in Spain very frequently (25 or so trains 2025, 9 this year - used to travel just on Renfe, and recently discovered the Spanish way is to choose whichever is cheaper among Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo). My primary routes are Madrid to/from Màlaga/Sevilla () and Madrid to/from Barcelona. Had a spirited debate with my Spanish friends about the Adamuz incident earlier in the year, decided I was overthinking and def don’t challenge a Spaniard about their system (only they can criticise it, it’s def a source of national pride unlike Deutsche Bahn circa now lol)

Been zipping back and forth Spain all summer on all three carriers CBT-ing myself that i’m overthinking, nearly all other modes of travel are more dangerous. BUT - my anxieties stem from IF something does go awry, the speed isn’t necessarily high enough for instant death and many suffer horrendous unsurvivable injuries that are not instant. One of the reports yesterday included a steel rail that skewered an entire carriage and taking out people in it’s random path. This crash has just reinforced those fears. I seriously don’t mind flying between Mad-Bcn on the IB Puente Aéreo. Granted it’s terrible on the environment (but easy QF SCs!)

For my sanity i’ll be flying next year, just a personal preference.

At least the metro to MAD is good and they are opening an express rail link between BCN and Barcelona city centre!
Oh wait ...