Those answers are hard to find. Experts point to human error, maintenance issues, austerity and EU-level rail safety reform as all having played their part in the deaths of at least 69 people near Toledo on Wednesday.

Spain’s transport ministry says the preliminary investigation points to a chain of failures. After a computer malfunction knocked out the German-made signaling system installed in 1992, railway network officials took control and authorized a train to proceed along a track where another had stopped, causing the deadly collision.

Jaime Tamarit, a former director of a European railway-signaling certification laboratory who helped oversee the development of the pan-European system meant to prevent railway accidents, said the system failure revealed the grave state of Spain’s high-speed rail network.

“The whole point of a train-protection system is to guard against human error,” he said, adding that the failure of such a critical mechanism suggested, “the infrastructure is in a terrible state.” 

Investment in Spain’s railways plunged during the financial crisis and subsequent austerity years. Although spending has since recovered, it remains well below its pre-crisis level in real terms.

Between 2018 and 2022, Spain allocated an average of €1.5 billion a year to high-speed rail —more than France or Germany — but most of that money went toward new infrastructure. Maintenance, renewals and upgrades accounted for about 16% of Spain’s high-speed rail spending, compared with 34% to 39% in France, Germany and Italy, according to European Commission data.

“If you have more train lines, you need more staff, and to spend more on maintenance,” Tamarit said.