The spokesman of the Association of Civil Engineers, José María Goicolea Ruigómez, has pointed out this Wednesday that a possible "human error" could have occurred when the automatic signaling system (LZB level 2) did not come into operation as one of the causes of the Urda railway accident (Toledo), in which at least ten people have lost their lives after the collision of an AVE with an Iryo on the Madrid-Seville line.
In statements to Europa Press, the specialist has detailed that on the Madrid-Seville route an automatic system designed to stop the train in the event of detecting any obstacle on the track was already installed. "This system, regardless of the driver, stops the train when it notices that there is another train or there is an obstacle," he specified.
In this context, he has emphasized that "the only interpretation is that the LZB system was broken and that it was in manual mode (ASFA) and that there had been a human error by one of the drivers," although he clarified that for now "they are speculations." According to him, the equipment planned for the trains involved was LZB level 2, which "produces the automatic stopping of the trains."
The spokesman has recalled that "in the infamous Angrois accident (Galicia), the train was in the signaling mode of ASFA (manual) and depended on the driver, who had a human error," thus establishing a parallel in terms of the dependence on manual driving when the automatic system is not operating.
"We are speculating, but the only possibility that occurs to me or that has been mentioned to me, but still without confirmation, is that the LZB was broken, was not working for whatever reason, was in ASFA mode in manual mode," he has stressed, insisting that there is still no official version of the system failure.
Regarding the mechanics of the crash, he has explained that the collision occurred between two trains "that were going on the same track, in the same direction." In his view, "it should be impossible for that to happen because there is an automatic system," he reiterated, pointing to the exceptional nature of such a situation with the available technology.
Finally, he stressed that "it is not at all normal for it to fail, I do not have absolute confirmation that it failed, I am speculating based on something they have told me, but it is not normal at all for it to fail. It is too early to know more", making it clear that it will be necessary to wait for the official investigations to determine precisely what happened.