Spain slashes speed limits on popular train routes after fault discovered

Spanish rail authorities have temporarily reduced speed limits on some high-speed lines between Madrid and Barcelona after detecting a track fault.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a crack was discovered on Sunday evening in the line between Alcover and l’Espluga de Francolí, 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Barcelona in the Catalonia region.

A few days ago, a high-speed collision in southern Spain killed 45 people and severely disrupted local rail services in the northeast of the country.

The Ministry of Transport stated that the line failure did not pose a danger to trains along the line and trains will continue to run along the line.

This is the latest and largest speed reduction on high-speed lines in recent days. Earlier this month, there was an accident in Adamuz, Andalusia.

The speed limit on the affected stretch of road is 80 km/h (50 mph) until further notice. The high-speed train between Madrid and Barcelona reaches speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour and is one of the most frequently used long-distance routes in Spain.

Last week, the speed limit was temporarily reduced to 230 km/h on several sections of the Madrid-Barcelona line after drivers reported vibrations or other abnormalities on the line, before being restored to 300 km/h after technical inspections.

The speed limit on some sections of the Madrid-Valencia line has also been temporarily reduced to 160 km/h and 200 km/h.

Meanwhile, Catalonia’s local Rodalies rail service has been severely disrupted.

last week, A trainee driver was killed Services in Rodalies were grounded when a train hit a collapsed wall as drivers called for improved safety and a review of the line.

Two separate incidents caused further chaos in the area on Monday, with services suspended again before being partially restored later in the day. The Spanish government said it did not yet know the cause of the incident but did not rule out the possibility of a cyber attack.

The Catalan Left Republican Party (ERC) said there had been “decades of lack of investment” in the Rodalies network.

“The reputational damage is as serious as the financial damage, if not more serious,” said Ramon Talamas, president of the Terrassa Chamber of Commerce.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will be questioned in Congress on February 11 about the rail crisis.

The measures come as an investigation continues into the accident on the Adamus highway, in which the rear carriage of a train traveling north to Madrid derailed on the straight track, causing a collision with an oncoming train.

Investigators have been examining a 40-centimetre (16-inch) section of track that apparently came loose shortly before the derailment.

The Department of Transport said the line where the accident occurred had been renovated and had recently undergone a technical review.

However, it turns out that the damaged rail, manufactured in 2023, had been welded to an older rail that was reportedly manufactured in 1989, and the connection between the two appears to be where it broke.

Iñaki Barrón, head of an independent commission investigating the accident, said “everything seems to point to” the separation of two pieces of welded track as the cause of the tragedy.

Opposition politicians have called for Oscar Puente’s resignation, accusing him of misleading the public in the wake of the tragedy.