Spain's Transport Minister Resigns Over Deadly Rail Collision

MADRID, Nov 3 (OPA) — Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente announced his resignation on Tuesday, taking political responsibility for a high-speed train collision south of Madrid that killed 69 people. The resignation came at the conclusion of an hourslong parliamentary appearance addressing the Oct. 28 disaster, which stands as the second deadly high-speed rail crash in the country this year.

"A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of this seriousness in less than a year," Puente told lawmakers. The October crash occurred when a high-speed train collided with a stationary train on the tracks. Central controllers in Madrid had authorized the state-operated Renfe train to proceed after a critical communication system outage disabled standard security protocols on the Madrid-Seville line.

Prior to his resignation, Puente outlined new safety measures for the rail network, including upgraded conditions in control centers and an accelerated rollout of the standardized European Rail Traffic Management System. The network, which is the world's second-largest after China's, had operated for over three decades without a fatal incident prior to 2025.

The string of accidents has intensified scrutiny over national railway safety four weeks ahead of a general election. An ongoing investigation continues into a separate January crash further south along the same Madrid-Seville route, which resulted in 46 deaths when a derailed train struck oncoming traffic.