Spain cuts Madrid-Seville trains until delayed ERTMS safety system lands

Spain is trimming service on the Madrid-Seville line, and it won't go back to normal until the country's Railway Safety Agency signs off on the line's safety system — plus the government finally finishes rolling out the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). Transport Minister Oscar Puente laid that out for reporters Tuesday, two days after the crash near the town of Urda in central Spain killed 69 people.

The chain of events matters. Last Wednesday, several trains were automatically halted when a signalling system failed, and central controllers in Madrid stepped in. According to Puente, a Renfe-operated train was then cleared to move forward even though an Iryo-operated train was sitting stationary ahead. Investigators put the impact speed at 160 to 200 kph.

This is not the line's first tragedy. A January crash on the same route involving the same two companies killed 46 people. The ERTMS rollout on that stretch has been running behind schedule, government contracts show — a detail that lands hard now.

Puente has ruled out resigning and was due to face lawmakers at 5 p.m. GMT over his handling of what stands as Europe's worst train crash since 2013. His government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and chasing re-election on Nov. 29, signed off on an emergency aid package for victims and their families, promising to double compulsory passenger insurance payouts, speed up compensation and broaden temporary incapacity cover.

The new safety playbook includes a 40 kph speed limit whenever a driver has to spot obstacles manually after a signal failure, more hires, and better conditions inside rail control centres. Madrid also wants to fast-track ERTMS, the standardised signalling and safety system, across the network.

Then there's the part Puente is calling a world first: an AI agent that will hunt for anomalies and monitor conversations between train drivers and controllers to cut down on human error. Spain will additionally build a real-time digital model of the rail network. As Puente put it, no other railway system uses this kind of mechanism — Spain intends to be the first.