Spanish transport minister offers resignation after deadly train crash

Madrid - Spain's transport minister, Oscar Puente, tendered his resignation on Tuesday following a train crash that claimed 69 lives, marking one of Europe's worst railway disasters this century and posing a challenge for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ahead of a snap election. Puente, who had pledged to restore confidence in Spain's second-largest high-speed rail network, also withdrew from the November 29 general election.

The crash, alongside another earlier in the year, has overshadowed campaign efforts, with Sanchez currently trailing in polls. Puente stated that no transport minister in Spain could remain in office after two such serious accidents within a year, regardless of personal responsibility. He made his decision upon learning of the tragedy and publicly announced it today.

Puente withdrew as a candidate in the snap polls, citing the need to focus on safety measures. The accident occurred when a Renfe train collided with a stationary one operated by private company Iryo outside Urda, south of Madrid. An automatic safety system had halted all trains on a 63-kilometer stretch, but the control centre allowed the Renfe service to resume.

Puente introduced software to enable automatic alerts and AI oversight to minimize human error. He also committed to improving control center operators' working conditions and welfare, including break times and fatigue monitoring. The government offered 30 million euros in aid to the victims' families and injured individuals. Another deadly collision in Andalusia in January left 46 people dead on the same key Madrid-Seville high-speed route.