Madrid, Spain – “I survived but the mental scars are still there all these years later.
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scars → survive → ?
We must stop more accidents happening,” says Cristobal Gonalez.
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Gonalez → stop → ?
Gonzalez suffered multiple injuries when a high-speed train, which should have been travelling at 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour), hurtled off the line at 200km/h (125mph), killing 80 people.
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which → suffer → people
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teams → search → arms
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Spain → die → victims
How it happened
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it → happen → ?
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The accident in 2013 at Angrois, near Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, remains Spain’s deadliest rail crash.
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accident → remain → Spain
On Wednesday, 13 years later, at least 69 people were killed when two trains collided near Urda, a town close to Toledo in central Spain.
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trains → kill → Spain
Only 10 months earlier, two other trains collided on the same line, in Adamuz near Cordoba in southern Spain, killing 46 people.
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trains → collide → people
Survivors of Spain’s three worst rail disasters have said more must be done to avoid further tragedies.
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more → say → tragedies
“Now we have seen three dreadful crashes in Spain, at Angrois, Adamuz and Urda.
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we → see → Angrois
They will keep happening if we do not act,” Gonzalez told Al Jazeera.
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Gonzalez → keep → Jazeera
“At Angrois, the driver was going too fast; at Adamuz, an investigation said there was a problem on the track; and at Urda it might have been human error and a problem with the control system.
uncertain
it → go → system
Whatever, we must stop these crashes happening by investing more in safety.”
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crashes → stop → safety
Gonzalez was travelling with a friend, Oscar, to Santiago de Compostela when the crash happened.
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crash → travel → Compostela
He was in the front carriage when the train “flew” off the tracks and smashed into a bank.
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train → fly → bank
He stayed inside the train trying to help others in their last moments.
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He → stay → moments
Years later, he struggles to talk about the events of that day.
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he → struggle → day
“I will keep what happened to myself.
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what → keep → myself
It is very hard to share it, even if I wanted to – it is something that defies imagination,” said Gonzalez, who suffers from post-traumatic stress.
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who → share → stress
‘I cannot believe that this has happened again’
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this → believe → ?
Santiago Rosendo, who was one of the passengers in the Renfe train involved in the Adamuz crash in January, spoke of the “panic” among passengers when the trains collided.
“There was a sudden stop – a very sudden stop – then following that, a loud crash.
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trains → involve → that
Then the train moved from side to side until the train slid onto its side and we were left entirely in the dark.
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we → move → dark
The first thing I saw when I got off the train was a body,” he told Al Jazeera.
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he → see → Jazeera
Rosendo, who was travelling on his own from Madrid to Huelva in southern Spain when the accident happened on a Sunday night, added: “I cannot believe that this has happened again on the same line.
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this → travel → line
We have to do something.”
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We → have → something
An initial investigation into the Adamuz crash found a broken rail had caused one train to veer off the line into the path of an oncoming train.
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train → find → train
Experts have called for more investment in maintenance in the wake of this year’s crashes.
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Experts → call → crashes
Between 2018 and 2022, Spain spent an average of about $1.67bn each year on high-speed lines, more than other European countries with similar networks.
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Spain → spend → networks
However, only 16 percent of that was spent on maintenance or repairs, according to European Commission data; the rest was devoted to the infrastructure.
uncertain
rest → spend → infrastructure
In contrast, Italy, Germany and France spent an average of between 33 and 39 percent of their budgets on maintenance, even though each has smaller networks than the 4,000km (2,485 miles) in Spain.
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each → spend → Spain
Experts call for investment in maintenance
Jose Maria Goicolea, spokesman for the Spanish Association of Civil Engineers, told Al Jazeera that with the increase in use of the rail network, “there has to be more spent on maintenance.
“In 1982, when there was the first line, it was a very small network.
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it → call → 1982
The emphasis cannot be only on building new lines but doing more maintenance.”
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emphasis → build → maintenance
About 40 million people used the high-speed rail trains in 2024, almost double the figure for 2019.
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people → use → 2019
In the first half of this year, about 25 million travelled on the high-speed network, a year-on-year fall of 14 percent.
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million → travel → percent
The line between Madrid and Seville, where both crashes happened this year, is the only one in Spain using a German-made LZB control system dating from the 1970s, which is being phased out.
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which → happen → 1970s
“I would close the line between Madrid and Seville while the LZB system is phased out.
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system → close → Madrid
It failed.
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It → fail → ?
But the other reason was human error, it seems,” Goicolea said.
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Goicolea → seem → ?
He added that the crash in January was caused by faults in the line.
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crash → add → line
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
