The Andalusian Executive has once again called this Thursday on the central Government for an "urgent audit" on the situation of the railway lines that connect Madrid and Andalucía.
The request was made by the third vice president, counselor for Economy, Finance and European Funds and spokesperson for the Andalusian Government, Carolina España, after observing at 12:00 hours a minute of silence for the victims of the tragic railway accident recorded yesterday in Urda (Toledo). The event took place at the main entrance of the headquarters of her department, in the Torretriana building in Sevilla, where she was accompanied by the counselor for Education, Carmen Castilla, whose department is also located in the same building, as well as by public employees of the complex.
"These are moments of great pain, we are distraught because we have barely recovered from the Adamuz railway accident and yesterday was a new blow for all of Spain in general, but for Andalucía in particular," the spokesperson for the regional Executive said before the media.
Carolina España has emphasized that the Junta joins in the "pain of all the families who are still looking for their loved ones, many of them already deceased, and hopefully there will be a speedy recovery of the injured," but has recalled that "our duty as a government is also to demand to know the truth".
In this line, she has raised the need to clarify "what is happening with railway transport in our country, specifically on the line that connects Madrid with Andalucía: Are the safety systems failing?; are the signals failing?, what is failing?".
The Andalusian vice president has warned that it is not acceptable that, in a period of nine months, more than 100 people have lost their lives in two railway accidents on the Madrid-Andalucía high-speed line, and has focused on the possible existence of shortcomings in the conservation of the infrastructure. "Is there a lack of maintenance?, there are many questions we ask ourselves," she pointed out.
She has reiterated that, although it is time to accompany the families in their mourning for the victims and to follow the evolution of the injured, it is also time, "with all rigor, to ask for explanations and an urgent review of all the railway lines that connect Andalucía with Madrid".
"From the Andalusian Government we will be very demanding in this responsibility of the Government (central) regarding the audit, in knowing the truth and in having all kinds of explanations given so that this never happens again", concluded Carolina España.