The president of Adif, Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña, submitted his resignation from the position this Wednesday to the First Vice President of the Government, Carlos Cuerpo, who has provisionally assumed the powers of the Ministry of Transport after Óscar Puente's resignation.
Marco de la Peña communicated his decision during a meeting held this afternoon with Cuerpo and the Secretary of State for Transport, José Antonio Santano. According to sources familiar with the decision cited by 'Europa Press', the president of the railway manager had already informed Puente of his intention to leave the position before that meeting.
The resignation comes just one day after Puente announced his departure at the end of a long appearance before the Permanent Deputation of Congress to explain the Urda railway accident. The change of leadership at Transport and the departure of Adif's top official occur as the Government faces the crisis opened by the tragedy, which occurred on October 28.
In the accident, 69 people died and more than a hundred were injured after a Renfe AVE train hit an Iryo train that was stopped on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. The judicial and technical investigations are still open to clarify the causes and possible responsibilities.
Among the issues being examined are the failure of the LZB signaling system and the instructions given from the Adif control center before the collision. Puente explained in his appearance that the AVE was authorized to resume its journey while the other train remained stopped. The investigations will have to determine the circumstances in which those decisions were made.
Marco de la Peña's departure also comes after the Adamuz accident, in Córdoba, which caused the death of 46 people last January. Both tragedies have placed the maintenance, protocols, and safety of the railway network at the center of the political debate.
A Civil Engineer from the University of Cantabria, Marco de la Peña was appointed president of Adif and Adif Alta Velocidad in September 2024, at Puente's proposal. Previously, he had been Deputy Minister of Infrastructures and Transport of the Basque Government and general director of Euskal Trenbide Sarea, the public railway entity of Euskadi.
His resignation has been announced on Cuerpo's first day as interim head of Transport. The vice president combines these functions with the Ministry of Economy and now faces the renewal of the railway manager's board while investigations into what happened in Urda continue.
