The European Public Prosecutor's Office has targeted the offices of rail infrastructure manager Adif and safety agency AESF to investigate financial irregularities. The inquiry follows an October disaster near Urda that killed 69 people when an LZB system breakdown led a Renfe train to strike a stationary Iryo convoy. Transport Minister Óscar Puente has resigned over the fallout, while his successor Carlos Cuerpo faces widespread service cancellations and demands from opposition parties for the prime minister to step down.
Key points
Mismanagement of European Union safety upgrade funds is now the subject of an official fr…: Mismanagement of European Union safety upgrade funds is now the subject of an official fraud investigation overseen by a Spanish judge.
Infrastructure and signalling failures on Spain's Madrid-Seville line have caused two maj…: Infrastructure and signalling failures on Spain's Madrid-Seville line have caused two major crashes and 115 combined deaths this year.
The double rail tragedies have sparked intense political pressure on Prime Minister Pedro…: The double rail tragedies have sparked intense political pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government ahead of a November general election.
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- Published
European Union prosecutors have begun investigating the possible misuse of EU funds meant for upgrading the Spanish railway line where a train crash killed 69 people last week.
Prosecutors backed by a special unit of Spain's Guardia Civil security force said they were conducting the inquiry at the offices of Adif rail infrastructure authority and rail safety agency AESF.
The 28 October accident on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line was one of the worst railway disasters in Europe this century.
It is the second EU fraud inquiry opened into Spain's railways this year, after 46 people were killed on the same line at Adamuz in January.
Last week, a train operated by state-owned operator Renfe ploughed into the back of a stationary train belonging to private Spanish company Iryo outside the village of Urda, around 130km (80 miles) south of Madrid.
The LZB communication system that monitors the position of trains had gone down, and the Renfe train had been given the all clear to start running at normal speed, even though the Iryo train ahead of it had…
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