Spain train crash audio reveals exchanges between drivers and control centre

Audio recordings reported by the BBC on Thursday appear to show a Renfe driver being cleared to move while an Iryo train about 25km ahead remained stopped before Wednesday morning’s collision near Urda, Spain. At least 68 people were killed. The exchanges offer a closer account of the minutes before the crash, whose cause remains under investigation.

The recordings, published by Spanish outlets including El País and RTVE, capture conversations between drivers and a railway control centre in Madrid, the BBC reported. They have not been released as a finding by crash investigators.

What the Spain train crash recordings appear to show

The Iryo driver separately reports losing communication with the train-control system and stopping before the entry signal at Urda. After being told to resume the journey, the driver calls again to say the train cannot start because its security system will not allow control. The later call suggests the controller had been told the Iryo train was still stationary as the Renfe service approached, the BBC reported.

The BBC said a reported computer failure affecting automatic signalling had brought trains on that stretch to a halt. Spain’s transport minister said the Renfe train was subsequently ordered to proceed in ‘error’. Investigators have not established whether that instruction, a system failure or another factor caused the collision.

Passengers, mourning and the investigation

The Renfe service was travelling from Madrid toward Seville with 397 passengers; the Iryo train had 147 aboard, according to the BBC. Iryo said its train was struck from behind. The Guardian reported that the impact knocked several carriages off the track and that officials said 107 people needed hospital treatment, including 15 in serious condition.

Spain has begun three days of national mourning while relatives seek information about missing passengers. Emergency services searched the wreckage overnight, and the Civil Guard set up clinics where relatives could provide DNA samples to help identify victims, the Guardian reported.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it ‘unacceptable’ for Spain to suffer two high-speed train accidents in one year. He said any security-system failures or negligence found by investigators would be addressed with the ‘utmost severity’. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for an immediate investigation and an independent review of the rail network, according to the Guardian.

The scrutiny follows a January collision involving Renfe and Iryo trains on the same line near Adamuz in Andalusia, which killed 46 people, the Guardian reported. The cause of Wednesday’s collision is still being investigated.