Families demand answers after train crash

Relatives of the 45 people killed in a high-speed train collision near Adamuz demanded full answers and accountability at funeral services, as mourning and anger grow over limited public information about the cause. Speaking at a service in Huelva attended by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, Liliana Saenz, daughter of one victim, said families will keep fighting “so that there will never be another train,” urging that only the truth can help them heal. She described the 45 families’ wish to rewind time by the roughly 20 seconds that separated the two trains’ impacts.

Authorities say a fracture in the rail preceded the derailment of a Málaga–Madrid train, which then struck an oncoming Huelva-bound service about 20 seconds later; officials have suggested the gap could have been as short as nine seconds. Investigators have recovered data recorders and are examining train speed, signalling, track conditions and operational procedures, while inspectors search the line for defects. The transport ministry has pledged to publish investigation findings and to implement recommended safety measures, but families and campaigners have criticized slow and vague communications and called for independent oversight to ensure political or commercial interests do not influence the inquiry.

The crash, one of the deadliest rail accidents in recent European memory, has reopened debates about rail maintenance, safety systems and whether cost-cutting contributed to risks on a network long regarded as among Europe’s most extensive. Relatives, survivors still bearing bandages and slings, lawyers for victims and civil society groups have demanded transparency, full disclosure of technical findings and concrete reforms to prevent recurrence. Some families are preparing legal action should investigations find negligence.

Public sympathy and political pressure have increased scrutiny of investment and maintenance practices across the rail sector. While officials praise emergency responders and urge patience for a thorough probe, critics say patience must not be used to delay accountability. The absence of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Transport Minister Óscar Puente from the Huelva service drew attention amid calls for visible leadership.

Survivors continue to recover physically and psychologically, and relatives say their mourning cannot conclude until the causes are fully explained and those responsible are held to account. The tragedy has prompted renewed demands that lessons from past rail disasters be applied promptly, with clearer transparency so public trust in rail travel can be rebuilt.