The president of Renfe, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, has assured in the Congress of Deputies that the public company is “one more victim” of the railway accidents occurred in January in Adamuz (Córdoba) and Gelida (Barcelona). During his appearance before the Transport and Sustainable Mobility Commission, he defended the operator's actions and stressed that both accidents affected both passengers and company workers.
Fernández Heredia insisted that Renfe responded “as can be expected from a responsible public operator” and highlighted the efforts made to maintain confidence in the railway as a safe means of transport. “Perhaps the safest”, he affirmed, despite recognizing that “unfortunate accidents” like those recorded last January can occur.
The most serious accident took place on January 18 in Adamuz, when an Alvia train from Renfe collided with an Iryo convoy that had previously derailed and invaded the adjacent track. The crash left 46 dead. According to the initial investigations of the Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes Ferroviarios, the main cause was the breakage of a weld in the rail, and barely 15 seconds elapsed between the derailment and the impact, which prevented braking in time.
Two days later, on January 20, the Gelida accident occurred, where a Rodalies de Renfe train collided with the remains of a wall collapsed on the tracks after strong storms. The accident caused the death of a train driver and left five seriously injured.
