The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, confirmed this Tuesday that the train that derailed this Saturday in the tunnel between Atocha and Chamartín was taken off the track on purpose to avoid a major accident. “A worker from the Adif control center made the decision to divert it to cause its derailmentpreventing it from ending up on the Atocha railway beach or, eventually, colliding with an oncoming train,” he told reporters.
Puente, however, has not confirmed that the train that was going out of control was about to collide with a high-speed Iryo who at that moment was stopped on the road: “It is not determined, or at least I do not know it, that there was a train at that time that could potentially collide with.
Of course, he has admitted that this was a possibility: “It is evident that if the train had continued on its path, could have reached the Atocha railway beach or hit by any train that might be coming at that time.
“The decision of that Adif worker produces the avoidance of any risk to other trains or for the people who may be in the area around Atocha,” he stressed.
In any case, Puente has asked journalists for “prudence” and to wait for the investigation to conclude to determine the causes of the accident: “We cannot reveal aspects of the investigation until it has concluded. At a communicative level, we have one hand tied behind the back because we cannot provide information. It is the accident investigation commission that has to carry out the work and, out of prudence, we are not going to say anything. When it is concluded, we will make the appropriate assessment.”
“I’m seeing and reading some things… I ask you to be reasonable and to wait for the result of the investigation,” he added, addressing the media.
Regarding the causes of the accident, the minister has only explained that the train that derailed came loose when it was being towed, for reasons still unknown: “A train was being towed to the workshop and at a certain moment, for reasons I cannot explain and which will be clarified in the report, that train that was being towed breaks free from the train that was towing it and begins a journey in a kind of free fall through the Chamartín tunnel.”
