Leaked recordings show train control ordered normal speed before crash

Leaked audio recordings from the Madrid control center show that a dispatcher authorized a Renfe train to resume travel at normal speed while an Iryo train remained stationary on the tracks.

The conversation occurred on October 28, 2026, prior to a rear-end collision in Urda, Toledo, that killed at least 68 people and hospitalized 110 others. Approximately twenty of the injured are in critical condition.

The first recording captures a five-minute call between the control room at Atocha station and the driver of Renfe train 2080. The driver reported a partial transmission failure, noting that the Urda control unit had gone down. The dispatcher instructed the driver to disconnect the LZB signaling system to diagnose the issue.

After several minutes of discussion among staff, the dispatcher told the driver to reconnect the system and resume movement under the BSL lateral signaling protocol. The order was issued at 8:36 a.m. The dispatcher did not inform the driver that another train was stopped 25 kilometers ahead.

Minutes later, the driver of Iryo train 6076 called the control center to report a transmission loss and confirm her train was stopped at the entrance signal to Urda. The dispatcher initially told her to watch the signals. At 8:41 a.m., the dispatcher ordered her to disconnect and reconnect her LZB system as well, instructing her to resume movement under normal conditions once her timer completed its cycle.

Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente stated that the main hypothesis is human error by an Adif operator following a failure in the primary signaling system. He noted that the LZB system failed around 8:30 a.m., leaving six trains stopped in the area. Puente said one train driver advised following protocol to proceed at a reduced speed of no more than 40 kilometers per hour, but that specific instruction was not communicated to the Renfe train that eventually crashed.

The Renfe train traveled the 25 kilometers to the stopped Iryo train between 8:36 a.m. and 8:53 a.m. Puente indicated the Renfe train may have reached speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour during that interval. He described the decision to resume normal speed without the signaling system being fully restored as inexplicable.

The Guardia Civil has questioned the Madrid control center manager who coordinated the orders. A judge in the Toledo case has restricted access to the accident scene, prohibiting unauthorized personnel from entering within two kilometers of the Madrid to Seville high-speed line to preserve evidence.