LIVE | Minister Óscar Puente's appearance before the Permanent Deputation: latest reactions from PP, Vox and Frente Amplio after the Toledo accident

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has responded to criticism from the opposition for his explanations about the Adif control center worker in Atocha who transmitted erroneous orders to Iryo and AVE on the day of the Urda accident. During his appearance, he recalled that the victims were also workers and asked for prudence in the face of reproaches for the alleged targeting of the operator. "Those who were on the trains and died were also workers. Those who were on the trains and died also had the right to arrive safely at their workplaces or wherever they were going. And, therefore, let's all be prudent," he stated.

Puente has denied having directly blamed the worker and has defended that his statements were limited to recounting what happened. The minister has insisted that he has not attributed "responsibilities" to the operator, but has explained facts that he considers "true and verifiable."

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has responded to criticism from the opposition regarding his explanations about the role of the operator who gave the erroneous orders on the day of the Urda accident. Puente has denied having directly pointed to the worker and has defended that his intention has been to explain what happened with the available information. "Many of you thought that I was pointing to a worker, I have never even used the expression 'human error', but I ask you, what is the alternative? What would you have done in my place?" he questioned.

The head of Transport assured that, after the accident, he met with his team to analyze the regulations and reconstruct what happened before offering public explanations. "When I have all the available information and understand what the dynamic of the accident was, I explain it with facts," he defended. Furthermore, he rejected the criticism from political groups and asked if there is another version of what happened: "Beyond the hoaxes, the lies, the interested manipulations, is there any alternative version of the facts to the one I have provided? I have not heard it."

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has compared the failures of the two railway safety systems during his appearance before the Permanent Deputation of Congress. According to the data he presented, the LZB has registered 64 incidents that have affected train circulation so far in 2026, out of a total of 170 problems. In addition, he has for the first time offered figures for ERTMS failures on the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line, where 146 incidents have been recorded this year. "In terms of reliability, the ERTMS system does not show clearly superior performance," he stated.

Puente also reviewed the historical evolution of both systems. The LZB reached its peak of incidents in 2022, with 121, coinciding with the start of ERTMS installation on the Madrid-Seville line. For its part, ERTMS failures reached 298 in 2012. During his speech, the minister added a comparison taking into account the length of the railway lines: "If we calculate the ratio per kilometer, the difference is 1.5"

The six Vox deputies in the Congress's Permanent Deputation have left the room just after the intervention of their spokesperson, Pepa Millán, before the appearance of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, to give explanations for the Urda train accident.

“We don't want more deaths, we don't want more lies, and we don't want more betrayals. So we are not going to stay here to see how he continues to insult all Spaniards with his presence, nor are we going to normalize you at the head of a ministry, nor are we going to normalize this session as if it were just another thing.”

The BNG deputy, Néstor Rego, has described the intervention of the PP spokesperson, Ester Muñoz, as "obscene", and has criticized the actions of the popular party after the Angrois railway accident. Rego recalled that, at that time, the PP Government did not promote an in-depth investigation, while Alberto Núñez Feijóo vetoed a commission of inquiry in the Galician Parliament up to four times. The deputy also pointed out that the minister responsible at that time, Ana Pastor, was subsequently appointed president of Congress and denounced the "pact of silence between PP and PSOE" about what happened.

"We were prudent, the priority was to attend to victims and their families. After that first moment, Mr. Minister, it is inevitable to assume responsibilities," Rego demanded.

La secretaria general de Podemos, Ione Belarra, ha pedido la dimisión del ministro de Transportes, Óscar Puente, durante su comparecencia en el Congreso sobre el accidente ferroviario de Urda. La diputada ha lanzado duras críticas contra la gestión del sistema ferroviario y ha acusado tanto al PP como al PSOE de anteponer los intereses económicos a la seguridad de los pasajeros. "El verdadero error humano ha sido la externalización. Poner por delante de la seguridad de las personas el negocio", ha reprochado.

Belarra también ha responsabilizado a los gobiernos de ambos partidos de la privatización de servicios ferroviarios y de las condiciones laborales de los trabajadores, a quienes, según ha denunciado, se somete a jornadas extenuantes. "Han jugado ustedes a la ruleta rusa y la pistola se ha disparado dos veces este año", ha afirmado la dirigente de Podemos, que ha reclamado responsabilidades políticas a Puente y ha insistido en que la seguridad de los viajeros debe estar por encima del negocio.

The PNV spokesperson, Mikel Legarda, has called for the resignation of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, during his appearance in Congress to give explanations about the Urda railway accident. Although he thanked the minister for appearing before the media and parliamentary groups, he demanded that he not cling to the support of the President of the Government. "Do not cling to the confidence you say you have from the President of the Government. You have lost that of the citizenry and that is beyond remedy," he stated.

Legarda differentiated between criminal or legal responsibility and political responsibility and argued that the latter does not require an intention to cause harm, but can also derive from the actions of others. In this sense, he pointed out that assuming political responsibilities means "taking charge of the organization one directs as a public official" and also of the "mood of society."

During the appearance regarding the Urda railway accident, EH Bildu spokesperson, Mertxe Aizpurua, has avoided, for the moment, calling for the resignation of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, during her appearance regarding the Urda railway accident. However, she has warned that her party will not allow workers to be held responsible while the investigation is still in an initial phase. "We refuse to reduce a tragedy to an individual error," she stated, referring to the possible responsibilities of the Atocha controllers.

Aizpurua has demanded a review of all protocols, procedures, and working conditions of railway personnel to clarify what happened and prevent it from happening again. Furthermore, she has questioned why the measures announced by Puente, including a double verification system for decisions in control centers, had not been applied earlier. The spokesperson insisted that the investigation must analyze the functioning of the system as a whole and not focus solely on the workers.

Rufián has closed his round of questions with a reproach to the Government, which he has accused of acting the same as the PP and Vox and of "making life bitter for workers". The ERC spokesperson has insisted that "there is no way to justify it" and has recalled that the railway problem "transcends" Minister Óscar Puente, so he considers that the responsibility goes beyond his figure.

In his final speech, Rufián also criticized the opposition and warned that, if PP and Vox were to govern, there would be "45 more companies" and he ironized that "the trains would be made of plastic and the tracks of wood". Thus, he questioned that both parties can give lessons on railway management and concluded that "they are not the solution".

The ERC spokesperson, Gabriel Rufián, intervenes during Óscar Puente's appearance to assess the minister's explanations about the Toledo train accident. Rufián has acknowledged that the head of Transport "shows his face" and has highlighted that this is "much more than what we have had until now." However, he warned that someone must take responsibility for what happened and raised the question of what the opposition would demand if the minister belonged to the Popular Party and had more than a hundred fatalities behind him.

The ERC spokesperson insisted that the debate should not focus solely on Puente's figure, but on the state of Spanish railway infrastructure. "The important thing is whether the Spanish railway system is sustainable, safe, and efficient. And the answer is unequivocally that it is not," he stated. With these words, Rufián has focused on the need to review the operation and safety of the railway network.