Spain's rail authorities face European fraud probe after Urda rail disaster

European Union prosecutors have opened an investigation at Spain's rail authorities. The inquiry concerns the possible misuse of European funds allocated to upgrade the Madrid-Seville high-speed railway line, where a train crash near Urda last week killed 69 people.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office said investigative measures were being carried out at the offices of rail infrastructure authority Adif and rail safety agency AESF, with support from a special unit of Spain's Guardia Civil. The inquiry relates to EU funds for renovating and upgrading safety, signalling and communications systems on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line.

The crash happened on 28 October outside the village of Urda. A train operated by state-owned Renfe ran into the back of a stationary train belonging to private Spanish company Iryo, around 130 kilometres south of Madrid. It has been described as one of the worst railway disasters in Europe this century.

According to the material in the investigation, the LZB communication system that monitors the position of trains had stopped working. The Renfe train had been given clearance to run at normal speed, even though the Iryo train ahead of it had been unable to restart.

This is the second EU fraud inquiry into Spain's railways this year. In January, 46 people were killed at Adamuz on the same line. The two accidents, nine months apart on the same line, have claimed 115 lives and left dozens more injured.

A Spanish judge assigned to the case has to ensure that the investigation complies with legal safeguards, including authorising any measures that might involve house searches or phone-tapping.

A funeral for the 69 victims at Urda will take place on Tuesday at Toledo Cathedral, in the same province where the disaster happened.

The disaster has also had a political effect in Spain. It has damaged the Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ahead of a general election on 29 November, and his party is trailing the conservative People's Party in most opinion polls.

Sanchez's close ally Oscar Puente resigned this week as transport minister, after seeing two deadly accidents on his watch this year. The People's Party and the far-right Vox party say Puente's resignation is not enough and have demanded that Sanchez resign too.

Many people in Spain have now become wary of taking the train, with reports of widespread cancellations and empty station platforms.

Puente's successor, Carlos Cuerpo, has vowed to take all necessary measures to restore Spaniards' confidence in high-speed rail. On Friday he met survivors of January's Adamuz disaster, and they handed him a list of 11 demands for improving safety on Spain's railways.