Urda crash: Puente expects to reopen the AVE line within 10 days at most after court approval

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said on Tuesday that “within a maximum of 10 calendar days” the Madrid-Seville high-speed line can be put back into service once the court authorizes reconstruction work at the site of the Urda (Toledo) collision, according to Europa Press, as reported by Infobae, and El Debate. “Right now we depend on the permission the court gives us,” he said at the press conference after the Council of Ministers. According to those sources, the ministry requested authorization that same Tuesday, after the removal of the wrecked trains was completed.

The damaged track exceeds 40 metres, but as a precaution work will be carried out on a section of about 400 metres, according to Europa Press and El Mira. When it reopens, the line will run with fewer services until the deployment of the ERTMS level 2 control system and an extraordinary review of its safety systems are completed. Europa Press and El Mira attribute that review to the State Railway Safety Agency, while El Debate says it will be carried out by the technical accident investigation authority (AITAT). According to El Mira, Puente gave the example of one train every fifteen minutes instead of every five, six or ten, although with double-unit trains to maintain the number of seats. No specific reopening date has been given.

Puente also announced that, when automatic protection systems such as LZB or ERTMS are not operational, train movement orders will have to be supervised and approved by “at least a second human controller,” according to El Debate and OKDiario.

The collision between a Renfe AVE and an Iryo train occurred on October 28. The official death toll is 69, all of them now identified. The causes remain under judicial and technical investigation, and high-speed rail services between Madrid and Andalusia remain suspended.