Two trains collide near Toledo

At least sixty-four people died on Wednesday morning when a high-speed train struck a stationary train near the city of Toledo. The two trains were carrying five hundred forty-four passengers.

Signalling fault halted first train

A train operated by private company Iryo had stopped near Toledo because of a signalling fault and on orders from infrastructure manager Adif.A second train operated by state-owned Renfe then struck it at high speed.

Second crash in nine months

This is the second fatal collision in nine months on Spain's high-speed network.A crash in January killed forty-six people near the town of Adamuz in Andalucía.

Train drivers union planned strike

Spain's largest train drivers union had planned a twenty-four-hour work stoppage at Renfe for Thursday. The union said its goal was to change the system and make it safer, citing long-standing safety and reliability issues.

“Our goal is to change the system and make it safer.”

Train travel surged forty percent

Train travel grew by forty percent from two thousand nineteen to two thousand twenty-four, coinciding with the opening of Spain's rail network to private companies.

Maintenance spending lags behind

Spain spends more than any other country on high-speed rail, averaging about one point five billion euros a year from two thousand eighteen to two thousand twenty-two.

Safety record now in question

Until this year, Spain had among the lowest accident rates in the EU, with just one or fewer fatalities per thousand kilometres of track.