At least 30 people have been killed after two high-speed trains collided in central Spain on Wednesday, regional authorities said, in the country's second deadly high-speed rail crash on the same line in less than a year. The collision happened near the town of Urda in Toledo province, south of Madrid, on the route linking the capital with Andalusia.
Officials initially reported at least 10 dead and warned the number would rise. The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha later told the AFP news agency the toll had climbed to 30. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
Spain Train Collision: Key Facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Date and time | Wednesday, October 28, 2026, around 9 a.m. local time |
| Location | Near Urda, Toledo province, Castilla-La Mancha, on the Madrid to Seville line |
| Trains involved | A Renfe AVE train and an Iryo train, both heading from Madrid to Seville |
| Passengers | About 397 on the Renfe train and 147 on the Iryo train |
| Death toll | At least 30 (initial reports said 10); expected to rise |
| Cause | Not yet known |
| Service status | High-speed traffic between Madrid and Andalusia suspended |
Table of Contents
- What Happened
- What We Know and What We Don't
- Emergency Response and Reaction
- Background: A Second Crash on the Same Line
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Sources
What Happened
According to a regional government spokeswoman, Esther Padilla, speaking to Spanish public broadcaster TVE, both trains were travelling in the same direction from Madrid toward Seville when one ran into the back of the other, which was stopped on the line. The impact knocked two cars of the stationary train, run by the private operator Iryo, off the track. Emergency services said the carriages fell down an embankment.
Footage from regional television showed a derailed train with at least one carriage still on the elevated section of track, and twisted metal and broken panels scattered down the embankment below. Preliminary information from the Transport Ministry cited by Spanish daily El País suggested the Renfe train struck the stationary Iryo train from behind.
What We Know and What We Don't
| Confirmed by officials or reputable outlets | Still unknown |
|---|---|
| At least 30 people killed, per the regional government | The final death toll |
| A rear-end collision between a Renfe and an Iryo train | Why the Iryo train was stopped on the line |
| Two Iryo cars derailed | The cause of the collision |
| Civil Guard disaster investigators sent to the site, per El País | The number and condition of the injured |
| Madrid to Andalusia high-speed service suspended | When service will resume |
Because the investigation has only just begun, any claim about who or what was at fault would be speculation. We will update this article when officials release findings.
Emergency Response and Reaction
- The mayor of Urda, Manuel Galán, told TVE that civil protection authorities asked the town to prepare a sports hall to accommodate the injured. Injured passengers were being sent to several hospitals in the area.
- Rail infrastructure operator Adif suspended all high-speed traffic between Madrid and Andalusia, and the Civil Guard sent a specialist disaster investigation team to the site, according to El País.
- Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez cancelled his scheduled engagements to monitor the emergency, and regional president Emiliano García-Page said he was heading to the crash site. Several political parties also cancelled campaign events planned for Wednesday.
- Government sources told El País they feared the disaster could prove worse than the January crash in Adamuz, which killed more than 40 people.
Background: A Second Crash on the Same Line
On January 18, 2026, an Iryo train travelling from Málaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz, in Córdoba province, and was struck by an oncoming Renfe train bound for Huelva. At least 45 people were killed in that crash, according to NBC News and CBS News, though some outlets report 46. It was the deadliest rail accident in Spain since 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed near Santiago de Compostela. A source briefed on the early investigation told Reuters that experts found a broken rail joint at the January crash site. Officials have not said whether the two accidents are related.
Spain operates the largest high-speed rail network in Europe, and the second largest in the world after China, with about 3,600 kilometres of track, according to Adif. The country opened the network to private competition in 2020, which is how Iryo came to run services alongside the state-owned Renfe.
Sources
- Reuters (via SRN News): Two high-speed trains collide in Spain
- France 24: Dozens killed in high-speed train collision in central Spain
- ABC News: At least 10 killed in train collision on high-speed line in Spain
- NBC News: Two trains collide in Spain
- CBS News: High-speed train crashes into stopped train in Spain
- Al Jazeera: Two trains collide in Spain
- Anadolu Agency (citing El País): At least 10 killed in high-speed train crash in central Spain
- CNN: Spain train crash live updates
Editorial note: This is a developing news story compiled from public reporting. Figures and details may change as officials release more information. Last updated October 28, 2026.
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