Spain's Control Centre Cleared Train Despite Stalled Service Ahead

Audio recordings published by Spanish outlets El País and RTVE, and reviewed by the BBC, capture a control centre operator in Madrid telling a Renfe high-speed driver to proceed at normal speed even though another service further up the same line had stalled roughly 25 kilometers away, the BBC reported. The crash that followed killed at least 69 people and injured dozens when the Madrid-to-Seville service struck a stationary Iryo train from behind on Wednesday morning, according to the BBC.

Spain has begun three days of national mourning for what the BBC described as one of the worst rail disasters in Europe's modern history. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who traveled to the site, said authorities were working "day and night" to "get to the bottom of every last detail of this tragedy," according to the BBC.

What do the recordings show before the collision?

In one recording cited by the BBC, a control centre operator tells the Renfe driver, who was experiencing technical difficulties behind the stalled service ahead, to "continue your journey and then proceed under [Lateral Signalling Block], at normal speed with normal operation." When the driver asks, "At normal speed?" the operator replies, "Yes." The Lateral Signalling Block, the BBC reported, is a backup used when the primary automatic signalling or data transmission network fails — which officials say had happened earlier that morning, forcing every service on the stretch to halt.

What did the stalled Iryo driver tell the control centre?

A separate recording captures the Iryo driver reporting that contact with the control system had been lost and that the service was "stationary in front of the entry signal at Urda," according to the BBC. After further exchanges, the control centre tells the driver to "resume the journey" as normal. In a later recording, the same driver calls back to say the vehicle still will not move: "The train won't allow me to control the [security] system. That's why I am still stopped in front of the entry signal." The BBC reported that this exchange indicates the control centre had already been told the Iryo service remained stopped as the Renfe train approached.

How many passengers and casualties were involved?

The Renfe service carried 397 passengers and the Iryo service 147, the BBC reported. The crash killed at least 69 people and injured dozens, according to the same report. Iryo said in a statement cited by the BBC that its train "was struck from behind" by the oncoming service.

What is Spain's government saying caused the crash?

Spain's transport minister said the Renfe service was ordered to proceed in "error," according to the BBC, after the automatic signalling system suffered what was described as a computer failure on the affected stretch. Sánchez said investigators were examining "every last detail" of the sequence that led to the collision, the BBC reported.

What remains under investigation?

The recordings raise questions about why the Renfe driver was cleared to resume normal-speed operation on a backup signalling system while the Iryo service ahead remained immobilized, a sequence the transport minister has already called an error. The BBC reported that emergency teams worked through the night searching for victims and clearing debris near Urda following the collision. No findings from the formal investigation were included in the released recordings.