MADRID — Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente announced his resignation on Tuesday over last week’s deadly train crash, the country’s second this year, hours after laying out the government’s emergency aid package for victims and new safety measures.
He announced his decision in Congress, after giving evidence on last Wednesday’s disaster near the town of Urda, south of the capital Madrid, in which a train smashed into the back of a stationary train on October 28, killing 69 people and injuring dozens of others.
Puente announced his decision at the end of a lengthy congressional session on Tuesday evening in which he had been grilled by the opposition.
“A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot continue in office with two accidents of this severity in less than a year,” Puente told lawmakers of the Permanent Deputation, a standing committee that sits when parliament is dissolved.
Last week’s crash was one of the worst rail disasters in Europe’s modern history, and Spain’s worst crash since 2013. A crash on the same line in January left 46 people dead.
Puente also said: “I am not only stepping down from my position as minister of transport, but… I am also withdrawing my name from the lists for the early legislative elections.”
The main opposition, the conservative People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox, were both calling for his resignation, as were some of the government’s allies.
They argued that the minister should take responsibility for a high-speed rail system that many Spaniards now regard as unsafe and whose credibility even Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez admitted was “broken”.
The opposition also criticized Puente for appearing to blame human error for the crash, claiming the minister was trying to deflect the blame from his own failings.
But, having said he was going to remain in his post just a few days ago, his resignation appears to have taken many by surprise.
Many observers see the accident as a massive electoral setback to the Socialist-led government that will make it impossible for Sánchez to defy the polls and win the election.
The prime minister praised his colleague who had “faced up to the situation, provided answers and solutions, and then stepped aside”.
“Out of dignity. Of his own accord. Out of respect for the victims,” Sánchez added.
Many Spaniards will now ask whether Puente’s successors will manage to restore faith in the country’s railway system.
Last Wednesday’s accident involved a train run by state-owned operator Renfe with 397 passengers on board and a stationary train run by private operator Iryo, which was carrying 147 passengers.
A reported issue with the automatic signalling system had forced all trains to halt on the affected stretch.
Leaked audio recordings published in Spanish media soon after the crash revealed conversations between train drivers and a control center just minutes before the disaster.
The three recordings of conversations between Madrid’s control center and two train drivers appear to show that the Renfe train was given clearance to move even though the other train had stopped on the track, about 25km ahead.
Source: Saudi Gazette