Urda crash: Puente tells Congress the AVE ran 25 km at more than 160 km/h without LZB

Transport Minister Óscar Puente stated on Tuesday before the Standing Committee of the Congress of Deputies that the Renfe AVE involved in the Urda (Toledo) collision travelled about 25 kilometres with the LZB protection system out of service and in “normal running” mode, at more than 160 km/h, a speed “far higher than permitted given the circumstances,” instead of running “on sight,” according to Vozpópuli. According to that outlet, at around 08:53 the AVE hit the Iryo train, which was stationary. OKDiario and Euronews also report that the AVE exceeded 160 km/h before the collision.

Puente explained that Adif's control centre authorized the AVE to resume running despite the LZB outage while the Iryo train was stopped further ahead, according to Euronews. The minister maintained that LZB is a “well-proven” system and that its replacement by ERTMS is not due to any deficiency, according to Vozpópuli, and said it would be “premature” to set a date for restoring services until the work in the area is finished and the court's instructions are complied with, according to OKDiario.

Puente also announced that passengers will be able to change or cancel tickets free of charge for services to or from Andalusia, for now until November 15, according to OKDiario and Ceuta Actualidad.

The collision between the AVE and the Iryo train occurred on October 28. The official death toll is 69, all of them now identified, according to the High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha. The causes remain under judicial and technical investigation, and high-speed rail services between Madrid and Andalusia remain suspended pending the judge's authorization to rebuild the track.