The Iryo train involved in the Urda railway accident remained stopped because it still had not received instructions from the Adif control center in Atocha to resume movement. So says ABC in a report from Europa Press that cites sources close to the company.
According to those sources, the driver was still in conversations with the control center when the Renfe AVE that was traveling behind hit the rear of its convoy. The Renfe train had indeed received an order to continue.
The information provides a relevant element to reconstruct the sequence before the collision: while one of the trains had resumed the journey, the other was still waiting for instructions. This is the version relayed by sources close to Iryo, which will have to be checked against the communications and the circulation records.
Six trains stopped after the LZB system outage
The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, had explained that six trains stopped automatically after the LZB safety system outage.
According to his account, the control center ordered some of those convoys to resume movement normally. Among them was the Renfe AVE that later struck the Iryo.
Puente did not specify how many of the six trains were given that instruction nor did he identify all the affected services. The information published by ABC adds that the Iryo had not received the order and, for that reason, did not start moving again.
Puente maintains that the order contravened the regulations
The minister stated that the authorization to resume movement normally had been issued «in contravention of the regulations», because the control center system showed in red that the section occupied by the Iryo was not clear.
According to Puente’s explanation, if it was considered necessary to authorize the circulation, the instruction had to establish movement at reduced speed, with a maximum of 40 kilometers per hour.
The difference between the two instructions is one of the central points of his appearance. The minister questioned the order transmitted from the control center, although his statements do not replace the conclusions of the investigation into the causes and responsibilities for the accident.
Another driver warned about the instruction received
According to the account collected by ABC, one of the drivers of the six stopped trains stated to the control center that the order to resume the journey did not comply with regulations.
That warning introduces another question that will have to be clarified: what instructions were transmitted to each convoy and how the warnings of the professionals who were in the cab were handled.
It cannot be taken for granted that everyone received the same communication or that the conversations were identical. Precisely, the information about the Iryo indicates that its driver was still awaiting instructions when the impact occurred.
The 17 minutes that Puente considers pending clarification
The minister described the decisions adopted in the control center as «inexplicable» and pointed to a specific interval about which precise information was still lacking: the one elapsed between the authorization to the AVE and the collision.
«What happened in the 17 minutes between when the departure order is given to Renfe's AVE and the collision, we do not know precisely», he said.
That interval places the focus on the sequence of orders, communications and movements of the trains. The available information does not yet allow it to be established what happened at each moment or to assign definitive individual responsibility.
The version of the sources and the official Iryo statement
The explanation about the wait for instructions comes from sources close to Iryo cited by Europa Press. It is worth distinguishing it from the official statement previously issued by the operator.
In that communication, the company confirmed that its service 6076, which was making the Madrid-Seville route, received a blow on the rear part at the height of Urda. It also indicated that the causes remained unknown and that it was collaborating with Adif, Renfe and the authorities to clarify them.