Spain · Railway accident

Train collision near Urda, Toledo: 68 dead after AVE hits stationary Iryo train

Two high-speed trains collided on the Madrid–Sevilla line on Wednesday morning. The AVE was reportedly cleared to run with a red signal and another train ahead, after a failure of the LZB signalling system.

What happened

Shortly before 09:00 on Wednesday 28 October, two high-speed trains travelling the Madrid–Sevilla corridor were involved in a rear-end collision near the village of Urda, in the province of Toledo, at kilometre point 118.

According to the reconstruction given by officials and reported by Spanish media:

1. An LZB signalling failure affected the line.
2. An Iryo train (147 passengers on board) came to a stop at the entrance to Urda station.
3. A Renfe AVE (378 people on board) had left Madrid–Puerta de Atocha at 08:00, bound for Sevilla–Santa Justa with a scheduled arrival of 10:39.
4. The AVE was authorised to resume running — according to the transport minister, despite a red signal and the presence of another train ahead.
5. It struck the stationary Iryo train from behind at speed. Carriages derailed; a witness described a “tremendous crash” and said the train “flew into the air”.

The impact scattered wreckage along the embankment. Emergency services from Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid and neighbouring regions were mobilised, together with the Military Emergency Unit (UME), firefighters, Guardia Civil, Civil Protection and dozens of ambulances.

The victims

The regional president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, confirmed at around 17:00 that 68 people had died: 24 in the Renfe AVE and 44 in the Iryo train.

He warned that the figure could rise: a further death was reported during a coordination meeting, and rescue teams had not yet finished inspecting the wreckage.

Hospitals in Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Andalucía and the Valencian Community were placed on standby, and some patients were transferred to Madrid.

The rescue operation

• Judicial intervention now conditions part of the work: some operations must wait for authorisation from the court before debris can be moved.
• Firefighters, with cranes and UME support, are checking under carriages and between metal debris for further victims.
• Specialist search dogs have been deployed to look for survivors and locate people still unaccounted for.
• A municipal sports hall in Urda has been opened for those affected, and the Santo Cristo school pavilion has been converted into a family assistance centre.
• Psychological and social support teams — regional services, Red Cross and Guardia Civil — are working with families.
• Assistance points have also been set up at Madrid–Atocha, Sevilla–Santa Justa and Córdoba stations.
• The regional emergency plan (Platecam) remains at Situational Level 2 for the province of Toledo.

The investigation: LZB, a red signal and a decision

The central question is not why a train stopped. It is why another train was allowed to keep moving towards it.

What is LZB? The Linienzugbeeinflussung system is a cab-signalling and automatic train-protection technology used on Spain’s high-speed lines. It supervises train movement and applies the brakes if limits are exceeded. When it fails, the line falls back on procedural operation — which is exactly where human decisions become decisive.

According to the transport minister, Óscar Puente, the AVE received authorisation to resume normal running despite a red signal and another train standing ahead — an authorisation he described as “inexplicable” and against established protocols. His phrase: the decision was taken “with a red light and the train stopped.”

The control-centre operator who regulated traffic on the Madrid–Sevilla line at the time has been questioned by the Guardia Civil and is expected to appear before the rail accident investigation commission.

What is not known yet: whether the authorisation was a single individual error, a failure of procedure, a failure of supervision, or a combination; whether the LZB fault was correctly logged and escalated; and whether the “marcha a vista” protocol (running by sight, maximum 40 km/h) was applied or bypassed. The trains’ black boxes have not yet been analysed — rail experts have urged caution, noting that until the recorders are read, any attribution of cause is speculation.

Travel impact

• Madrid–Andalucía high-speed line: closed in both directions at the Urda section.
• Renfe (AVE/Avlo) and Iryo services between Madrid and Seville, Málaga, Córdoba and Granada are cancelled or diverted; passengers are being offered rebooking or refunds.
• Ouigo has suspended its Madrid–Andalucía services until at least 2 November.
• Málaga–Sevilla high-speed services are reported to be operating normally, despite the break in the connection with Madrid.
• Passengers with tickets for the coming days should check Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo websites and apps before travelling, and allow extra time for alternative arrangements.

The second disaster in ten months

This is the second fatal high-speed collision in Spain in 2026.

On 18 January 2026, an Alvia (Renfe) and a Frecciarossa (Iryo) collided near Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba, on the same Madrid–Sevilla corridor. 46 people died and 123 were injured. Investigations into that accident have examined, among other things, a possible defect in the track (a weld), while Adif has maintained that the detected irregularities were within safety limits.

The coincidence of corridor, operators and infrastructure has made the political question unavoidable: whether Spain’s high-speed network — the largest in Europe, with over 4,000 km — is being maintained and supervised to the standard its speed requires.

Reaction

• Three days of official mourning declared by the government (29–31 October).
• Election campaign events suspended; Copa del Rey football matches postponed.
• The Congress of Deputies cancelled a scheduled institutional act.
• The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha has thanked the municipalities of Urda and Los Yébenes, whose residents helped with the first rescue efforts.
• Blood donation appeals were issued in Toledo and Madrid.

The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said it was “not acceptable for Spain to suffer two high-speed accidents in a year”, promised that responsibilities would be established “with determination”, and said that “if there has been negligence, it will be known”.

Timeline of the day

We do not name individuals who have not been officially identified, and we do not repeat unverified claims about the cause. Figures change; check the sources above for the latest.

28 Oct 2026, 18:30 CET

First publication: 68 dead (24 AVE, 44 Iryo), 15 critical, 53 hospitalised; line closed; Ouigo suspended until 2 November.