Spain, Renfe: ‘Hypothesis linked to infrastructure, but avoid speculation’

Adamuz (Cordoba), 19 Jan. (LaPresse) – The president of the Spanish public railway company Renfe, Alvaro Fernandez Heredia, said during the programme “Las Mañanas” on Spanish national radio Rne that it is still ‘too early’ to know the causes of last night’s derailment in Adamuz, in the Spanish province of Cordoba, and asked for “patience” and to ‘avoid speculation as much as possible’. He explained that the accident occurred on a straight section of track with the safety systems active, which makes it particularly unusual: “We already know from the speed records that the trains were travelling at a speed lower than that assigned to the section” and the signalling system itself “prevents this speed from being exceeded”. For this reason, he stressed, the cause could be related ‘to rolling stock or infrastructure’, which will have to be determined by the Railway Accident Investigation Commission. In last night’s accident, an Iryo train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed and invaded the adjacent track on which a Renfe train travelling from Madrid to Huelva was travelling, which also derailed.