Spain’s train drivers call for strike as deadly derailments fuel concern

Following three fatalities and injuries this week, the largest train drivers’ union in Spain has called for a nationwide strike to demand safety assurances.

SEMAF, the union for train operators, said in a statement on Wednesday that it would “demand criminal liability from those whose responsibility is to ensure safety in the railway infrastructure.”

The union remarked, “This situation of the railroad’s ongoing decline is unacceptable.”

At least 43 people were killed on Sunday when two high-speed trains collided in Cordoba, the country’s deadliest train collision in more than a decade.

A commuter train hit a retaining wall that fell onto the tracks in Gelida, near Barcelona, in a separate incident late on Tuesday, killing one driver and injuring 37 others, according to regional officials.

A rock fell on the Barcelona regional network, leading to yet another train derailment, but no injuries were reported, according to rail network operator ADIF, despite reports of another derailment.

Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente stated that the government and the union would “sit down and talk” to stop the strike, which he claimed was being motivated by “the emotional state that the train drivers are currently in following the death of two colleagues.”

However, the incidents have sparked criticism from opposition lawmakers and commuters as well as concerns about the safety of Spain’s rail network.

High-speed trains “have been shaking lately,” according to waitress Raluca Maria Pasca, 45, who claims to be a waitress.

“I’ve experienced it myself. At the train station in Cordoba’s southern city, she told the AFP news agency that “they need to fix the problem.”

The state of the country’s railways has also been demanded by Spain’s conservative main opposition Popular Party. Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo wrote on X, “This is too much.”

imposed speed restrictions

The wreckage from Sunday’s high-speed collision is still undetermined by the Spanish authorities.

While the cause is being investigated, there are three days of national mourning.

According to ADIF, a train’s tail end derailed and collided with an incoming train coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern city, on its way from Malaga to Madrid’s capital, Madrid.

Local authorities said bodies were discovered hundreds of meters from the collision site near the town of Adamuz.

On Wednesday, authorities discovered a 43rd victim and continued their search. According to regional officials, 86 people were treated and discharged while another 37 people remained in the hospital on Wednesday morning.

While safety checks are being conducted, Catalonia’s main commuter rail network has been completely suspended, and trains won’t start operating until the lines are determined to be secure, according to officials.

After train drivers reported bumps, ADIF has placed a temporary 160 km/h (100 mph) speed limit on certain sections of the high-speed line between Madrid and Barcelona.

The network operator announced on Wednesday that trains between Madrid and the eastern city of Valencia were also given a restriction on the speed on a 1. 8 km (one mile) stretch of the line.

The train operators’ union, SEMAF, wrote a letter to ADIF in August to request an investigation into flaws in the country’s train lines as they increased usage and to slow down certain speeds until the tracks were fully repaired.