Sixty-eight people lost their lives on the high-speed railway line from Madrid to Andalusia on Wednesday, when one train crashed into another that was stationary on the open track. This is the second serious train accident on the route this year. The media examine the causes and consequences for the country, where a snap election is due to take place in a month’s time.
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Total system failure
According to El Mundo the government has been neglectful and is now trying to shirk its responsibility for the tragedy:
“Two serious collisions in less than a year is not mere coincidence, but the result of a complete systemic failure due to the government’s negligence. … It put the safety of one of the country’s most important infrastructures – and thus the lives of citizens – at risk, and bears full responsibility. … It has been quick to attribute the accident to ‘human error’. … But reducing the tragedy to a single operator’s mistake allows those in charge of the organisation, supervision and management of the railway network to shirk their responsibility.”
Elections fade into the background
This is a serious blow to Spain’s morale and image, notes La Vanguardia:
“By pure coincidence, the train drivers’ union had organised a strike for today, before the accident occurred, to demand a structural safety reform. Yesterday’s tragedy is devastating for confidence in Spain’s AVE high-speed rail service and highly detrimental to our country’s international reputation. Worst of all, however, is undoubtedly the number of innocent victims of a tragedy that should never have occurred. … The decision by most political parties to suspend their campaign events was right. Vox was the exception, thus demonstrating its lack of sensitivity. … Difficult days lie ahead, and the elections in a month’s time are the least of our worries now.”
National prestige object in tatters
SRF comments:
“This is the second serious incident within a year on Spain’s high-speed railway network – a system of which the country has long been proud. … The political accusations will not be long in coming. The focus is on questions regarding maintenance and equipment. To make matters worse, Spain has had to get by without an approved budget for the past three to four years, meaning that additional investment couldn’t be authorised. Railway unions had already warned that train drivers were complaining about the state of the infrastructure after the accident in January. … Since the start of the year the problem appears to have spread [from the regional lines] to the high-speed network.”