Government ignored railway safety alerts for two years before Toledo crash
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The government has reportedly ignored safety warnings from the national railway accident commission since 2022, including specific alerts regarding the supervision of orders similar to those given before the collision near Toledo. This revelation arrives as the death toll is confirmed at 69, with investigators still searching the Urda crash site for biological remains and families of the missing awaiting final identifications.
The political pressure has settled on the infrastructure manager, Adif, whose leadership is currently populated by former candidates and close allies of the ruling PSOE. While Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has blocked the resignation of his transport minister, railway staff are less supportive; unions describe a culture of staff shortages and system failures where the pressure to keep trains on schedule has eroded safety protocols.
The tragedy has drawn fresh attention to a long-standing imbalance in national transit policy. While the country leads the European Union in the construction of high-speed rail lines, it ranks near the bottom for the maintenance of the tracks it has already laid. For now, drivers and operators are expressing their distrust in the network by demanding lower speed limits across the board.