The victims of Adamuz demand Óscar Puente stop trains until network safety is guaranteed

The victims of the Adamuz accident have raised their tone against the Ministry of Transport. The Adamuz Derailment Victims Association has demanded that Óscar Puente, Adif, and the State Railway Safety Agency temporarily and immediately suspend railway traffic in Spain until there is a technical certification guaranteeing the safety of the network.

The request comes ten days before the six-month anniversary of the accident on January 18, in which 46 people died and another 432 were injured. The requirement was presented by the association's lawyer, Antonio Benítez Ostos, after learning of a communication from the Railway Accident Investigation Commission to Adif regarding rail breaks.

The central point is very specific. According to the association, the CIAF warns that Adif's procedure for managing defects in railway infrastructure includes inspections and auscultations to prevent breaks, but does not include a specific system to detect a rail break once it has occurred.

For the victims, this deficiency cannot be treated as just another technical matter. In their letter, they argue that current measures are not enough to eliminate the risk and that the network presents structural deficiencies that compromise minimum operational safety standards.

The CIAF's warning reopens pressure on Adif

The preliminary investigation into the accident already points to a rail break as the cause of the derailment. The association also recalls that technical inspections have placed this break several hours before the incident, without the system activating an alert capable of preventing the tragedy.

The group criticizes Transport, Adif, and the Railway Safety Agency for not having formal record of urgent and effective measures to correct these deficiencies since the accident, beyond temporary speed limits. It also includes warnings from railway unions and train drivers about vibrations, rattling, track deterioration, recurrent delays, and the use of slow circulations on damaged sections.

The victims point out other pending issues: lack of geolocation and automatic notification to the command post in case of derailment, absence of cameras on many trains, insufficient luggage restraint, and uneven coordination between emergency services 061 and 112. Not all these elements explain the accident, but they are part of the security map that the association wants to review.

The measure they are requesting is exceptional and would have an enormous impact on mobility. The association admits this, but argues that safety must be above railway normality. Their claim is not just to know what happened in Adamuz. It seeks for Transportes to certify what has been done to prevent it from happening again.

The ball is now in the court of Óscar Puente, Adif, and the State Railway Safety Agency. The victims have already put their demand in writing: without technical guarantees, there can be no normality on the tracks.