19/01/2026
Saddened to see the news about the high speed train crash in Andalusia last night. My condolences go to the families of the 39 deceased and 117 injured.
A northbound train (operated by Iryo), travelling from Málaga to Madrid suffered a derailment of the rear two carriages near the Town of Adamuz (north of Cordoba) at around 7:47 pm which then crossed onto the tracks of an oncoming (renfe) train from Madrid to Huelva which collided with the derailed train. Both trains were traveling below the 250Km/h line speed limit, at around 100 Km/h. The Derailment occurred about 10 seconds before the oncoming train collided so there was no time to suspend the flow of trains and is was the collision, not the derailment that has caused the high casualty rate.
The AVE high speed line between Madrid-Cordoba-Seville, is one of the oldest, opening in 2007. Train drivers union SEMAF had warned state-owned rail infrastructure administrator ADIF (in a letter last August) of severe wear and tear to the railway track where the two trains collided. The letter states that potholes, bumps, and imbalances in overhead power lines were causing frequent breakdowns and damaging the trains.
However, Óscar Puente (Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility in Spain) Said that Sunday's derailment took place on a straight part of the track which was last refurbished in May 2025. The Iryo train was modern rolling stock, made in Italy in 2022 and recently inspected on January 15th. Latest reports are that technicians investigating the cause have identified a faulty joint on the rails, where two rail sections come together with bolts and a metal plate called a fishplate. Indications are that this fault had been present on the tracks for some time. They found that the faulty joint created a gap between the rail sections that widened as trains continued to travel on the track.
Being able to travel via train locally, regionally and internationally in a timely and punctual manner is a privilege and not something many countries in the world can boast about. Spain has the largest high speed rail network in Europe and the second largest in the world.
Some of my earliest memories of working in Spain was the installation and commissioning of fibre optic nodes in portacabin track side enclosures along the newly built high speed lines and I view Spain's high speed rail network with its tunnels, embankments, bridges, viaducts, telco and catenary infrastructure, stations etc as a modern engineering triumph and a signal of Spain's 21st century modernisation.
Certainly in Barcelona, I enjoy being able to hop on a train and travel 20 minutes to 3 hours along the coast or into the interior to enjoy beautiful coastal scenery and mountains. This accident will not change my opinion that the train is the best and safest way to travel for leisure in Catalonia, and the rest of Spain.
To read more about the many railway operators and networks in Catalona, follow this link - https://www.barcelonatravelhacks.com/info/barcelona-public-transport-guide or visit my day trip guide for inspirational ideas for train based day and weekend trips from the Catalan Capital - https://www.barcelonatravelhacks.com/travel
