The full reportThe full report

Summary

On Wednesday morning, October 28, 2026, a high-speed train run by Renfe, Spain's state-owned rail company, ran into the back of a stopped train run by Iryo, a private operator, on the Madrid–Seville line in Toledo province, about 140 km (87 miles) south of Madrid. At least 68 people were killed, and more than 500 were on board the two trains. Transport Minister Óscar Puente gave a preliminary account: a computer failure stopped six trains, and the rail control center then let the trains move again without speed limits, including the Renfe train, while the Iryo train was still stopped ahead. A court is investigating, and Spain's independent rail accident commission is to investigate too; neither has reported a cause. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said "we will get to the bottom of this." As of 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time on October 28 (1:15 a.m. on October 29 in Spain), the regional government's count was 68 dead, and officials said it could rise.

What happened

The two trains had both left Madrid's Atocha station for Seville: Renfe's high-speed AVE train 2080 and Iryo's train 6076 (elDiario.es). The Renfe train hit the last car of the stopped Iryo train at kilometer 118, at the entrance to Urda station, between the towns of Mora and Orgaz (CLM24; BBC). The Transport Ministry and Renfe put the impact at 8:53 a.m. local time; Iryo said 8:48 and the regional emergency service 8:54 (CLM24). Two of the Iryo train's cars left the track and fell down an embankment (ABC News).

The Transport Ministry counted 397 passengers on the Renfe train and 146 plus a baby on the Iryo train (ABC News); the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha later gave 393 and 151 (CNN). Of the 68 dead, 44 were on the Iryo train and 24 on the Renfe train, the regional government said (CNN). Late on Wednesday, 53 injured people were still in hospitals in the region, 18 of them in critical condition (CMM). The U.S. State Department said "several" U.S. citizens were injured (CNN).

The government declared three days of official mourning, Thursday to Saturday (ABC News). Sánchez and other politicians canceled their public events, including campaigning for the November general election (BBC).

It is Spain's second deadly high-speed rail crash this year, after a crash near Adamuz, in Córdoba province, killed 46 people in January (BBC; CTIF). It is the country's deadliest train crash since 2013, when 80 people died near Santiago de Compostela (BBC).

How trains are kept apart on this line

On the Madrid–Andalusia high-speed line, a computer system called LZB supervises the trains' speed (elDiario.es). The track is divided into sections, and a train may not enter a section another train is in. Puente said the Renfe train "had to stop" because the section ahead was occupied by the Iryo train (our translation) (elDiario.es).

When LZB fails, every train on the affected stretch stops automatically, and the control center run by Adif, the state-owned company that manages Spain's rail network, takes over from its base at Atocha station in Madrid (elDiario.es). An Adif instruction from February 2025 says that after such a failure, a train may be told to move again only if the section ahead is free of trains (elDiario.es). Puente said that even then, a train should restart at a speed that lets the driver stop, limited to 40 km/h (25 mph) (elDiario.es). The line also has a backup system, ASFA; company sources told CLM24 the Iryo train had moved forward under it and then stopped again at a signal (CLM24).

How we got here

• 2013: A train derailed near Santiago de Compostela, in northwest Spain, killing 80 people (BBC; ABC News).
• February 2025: Adif changed its rules so that after an LZB failure, the control center may restart a train only when the section ahead is free (elDiario.es).
• January 18, 2026: Near Adamuz, an Iryo train derailed and a Renfe train struck its cars, killing 46 people (CTIF; ABC News). It happened on the same line, much farther south (BBC). Days later, a commuter train derailed near Barcelona (CNN).
• By October 5, 2026: Sánchez had called an early general election (BBC), set for November 29 (elDiario.es).
• October 28, about 8:30 a.m.: LZB failed on a 63 km (40-mile) stretch, Puente said, and six trains stopped automatically (elDiario.es).
• 8:36 a.m.: The control center told the Renfe train to resume normally, Puente said. It traveled about 25 km (16 miles), at about 200 km/h (124 mph), before hitting the Iryo train (CNN). Fox News reported that officials were still working to determine the speed (Fox News).
• 8:48–8:54 a.m.: The collision (times differ by source, above). At 9:10, Adif reported the line closed after "a rear-end collision between two trains" (our translation) (CLM24).
• Through the day: The regional count rose from at least 10 dead in the morning to 30 at midday, 64 in the early afternoon and 68 by mid-afternoon (CLM24). Puente gave his account at a news conference; Sánchez visited the site (ABC News).
• Evening: The Civil Guard questioned the control center worker who gave the order (elDiario.es). A judge in Orgaz barred access to the site (CMM). Outside the Transport Ministry in Madrid, a protest calling for government officials to resign ended in clashes with police (CNN; elDiario.es).

What people involved say

The transport minister. Óscar Puente described the crash as "truly implausible" and said the control center's decision to let the Renfe train go on while the Iryo train was stopped ahead was "inexplicable" (CNN). "In the event of a system failure, the control centre takes over," he said; the center allowed the trains to move again "without any speed restrictions," under "inexplicable circumstances" (BBC). He said the trains' drivers were not responsible (Fox News). Asked whether he would resign, he said no, and that he was focused on clearing up what happened (elDiario.es). This is his preliminary account; no investigation has reported.

The prime minister. Pedro Sánchez said "the whole of Spain is grieving" and "we will get to the bottom of this, and if there has been any negligence, it will come to light. If there have been failures in the security system, they will be addressed with the utmost firmness" (BBC). He said the cause was "not for me to say," but for the rail operators and the independent rail accident commission to investigate, and that "what is unacceptable for a country like Spain is to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year" (CNN).

The rail companies. Iryo said its train was "struck from behind" by the Renfe train "due to causes that are still unknown" (BBC). Sources close to Iryo told Europa Press its driver was still talking to the control center about restarting when the Renfe train hit (elDiario.es); she tested negative for alcohol and drugs (CMM). Renfe opened a phone line for families and suspended high-speed service between Madrid and Andalusia (CNN). We found no statement from Renfe or Adif on the cause.

The unions. CSIF, a public-sector union, called for Puente to resign, accusing him of making a "hardworking person" a scapegoat instead of "assuming his responsibilities" (CNN), and asked that the worker's presumption of innocence be respected (elDiario.es). SEMAF, the train drivers' union, said it was too early to determine the causes, and that running trains on the backup system after breakdowns, which it says happen more often, must not become normal (elDiario.es). CSIF also said it had warned in September of working days at Adif of up to 12 hours and five nights in a row (CNN; elDiario.es).

The opposition. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the People's Party, the main opposition party, said: "Spain has the right to know what is happening with its infrastructure" (BBC). He called for a complete independent review of the whole rail network (elDiario.es). He also asked for "una investigación gubernamental y judicial inmediata," a government and judicial investigation "with all means and without interference" (our translation) (CMM).

Survivors. Salvador Arriza, 62, on the Renfe train, told Reuters the impact was "brutal" and that "some people couldn't move because they were trapped amongst the seats" (BBC). Miguel Ángel Pérez, also on the Renfe train, told RTVE that staff had announced a stop for "an overload on the track," and then "it started moving again, and that's when we felt immense impact" (ABC News). Tangui Binier, 22, on the Iryo train, told the BBC that "suitcases started flying and people were screaming" (BBC).

What happens next

• The investigation. A judge in Orgaz is leading the court case; she has barred unauthorized people from the site and the removal of anything from it "to preserve the evidence" (our translation) (CMM). Spain's independent rail accident commission will also investigate (CNN). The Civil Guard is using drones to build a 3D model of the site (CNN).
• The death toll. Four bodies were still to be removed from the cars on Wednesday evening, and officials said more could be found when the cars are lifted (CMM). Regional president Emiliano García-Page said, "Unfortunately, we expect more" (our translation) (elDiario.es).
• The line. Renfe suspended high-speed service between Madrid and Andalusia on Thursday and said an alternative transport plan would start Friday (CNN). Thursday is also a train drivers' strike day called by SEMAF (elDiario.es).
• Mourning and the election. Three days of official mourning run Thursday to Saturday (ABC News). The general election is on November 29 (elDiario.es).

How it was covered

15 of the 15 outlets on our panel covered it: 5 of 5 on the left, 5 of 5 in the center and 5 of 5 on the right (checked October 28, 2026). The Reel showed one headline per side: CNN, "Spain train crash kills at least 68 as witnesses describe devastating scenes"; Reuters, "At least 68 people dead in Spain's second major train crash this year"; and Fox News, "Spain high-speed railway crash kills at least 68 after train stopped on tracks." We found coverage from every outlet on the panel. Every outlet's headline, link and date is on the [story page](/stories/2026-10-28-spain-train-crash/#coverage). [How we rate outlets and count coverage](/method/).

Sources

The [story page](/stories/2026-10-28-spain-train-crash/#sources) lists the main sources; every other source is linked in the text above.

Corrections

None as of October 28, 2026. See the [corrections log](/stories/2026-10-28-spain-train-crash/#corrections).