Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, announced his resignation on Tuesday, six days after a high-speed train collision near the town of Urda killed 69 people and injured more than 200. He made the announcement at the end of a lengthy appearance before lawmakers, hours after setting out an emergency aid package for victims and a series of new rail safety measures.
“A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot continue in office with two accidents of this severity in less than a year,” Puente told members of the Permanent Deputation, the standing committee that sits when parliament is dissolved. He said he had decided to step down within minutes of learning of the crash, but chose to remain in post until the immediate emergency response was under way, preliminary investigations had begun and the first measures to compensate victims and improve safety were in place.
Puente had previously ruled out resigning, and his departure follows days of mounting pressure from opposition parties and some government allies. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez praised him on social media, thanking him for his work and saying he had put victims first and acted out of a sense of political responsibility.
The crash happened on Wednesday 28 October on the Madrid–Seville high-speed line. A signalling failure automatically stopped several trains, after which central controllers in Madrid took over and authorised a train operated by the state-owned Renfe to proceed, even though a stationary privately operated Iryo train was ahead of it on the track. Investigators have estimated the impact speed at 160 to 200 kph.
It was the second deadly accident on the same line this year. In January, a crash involving the same companies killed 46 people, and Puente cited both disasters in explaining why he could not remain in office.
Earlier on Tuesday, Puente had announced that services on the Madrid–Seville line will be reduced until the Railway Safety Agency reviews the line’s safety system and the government completes the delayed rollout of the European Rail Traffic Management System. The safety measures include a 40 kph speed limit when a driver must spot obstacles ahead after a signal failure, more staff and improved conditions in rail control centres, doubled compulsory passenger insurance payouts, faster compensation payments and improved temporary incapacity cover.
In what he said would be a world first, Spain’s railway system will also introduce an artificial intelligence agent to detect anomalies and monitor conversations between train drivers and controllers, in an effort to minimise human error, alongside a real-time digital model of the network.
Puente’s resignation comes less than four weeks before the early parliamentary election on 29 November that Sánchez called, and he also announced that he is withdrawing his name from the election lists. The disaster has overshadowed campaigning for the ballot, and Renfe drivers have called strikes for 10 and 12 November over safety and working conditions.
Sources: Reuters (via SRN News), “Spain’s transport minister resigns over deadly train crash”, https://srnnews.com/spain-readies-aid-for-rail-crash-victims-transport-minister-to-face-lawmakers/ ; CNN, “Spanish transport minister resigns after two deadly train crashes in one year”, https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/03/americas/spain-transport-minister-resigns-intl-latam?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_meta
