The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a fraud investigation in early November 2026 targeting Spain’s railway infrastructure manager ADIF, the State Railway Safety Agency (AESF), and the Court of Auditors in Madrid. The inquiry concerns alleged misuse of European Union funds allocated for safety, signalling, and communications upgrades on the Madrid-Seville high-speed railway line.
The probe follows the Urda train collision on October 28, 2026, near the village of Urda in Toledo province, approximately 130 km south of Madrid. The accident involved a Renfe-operated train colliding into the rear of a stationary private Iryo train, resulting in at least
69 deaths. Authorities noted that the Renfe train was permitted to proceed at normal speed despite the Iryo train being immobilised, partially due to a failure in the LZB communication system that is critical for monitoring train positions.
This incident is the second fatal crash on the Madrid-Seville line in 2026. In January 2026, a high-speed train crash in the Adamuz region killed 46 passengers and prompted an EPPO probe into misuse of EU funds intended for track maintenance. No updates on the Adamuz investigation were available as of early November. The sequence of accidents has caused political repercussions, leading
to the resignation of Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente and ADIF President Luis Pedro Marco de la Pena. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo is serving as interim transport minister until the general elections scheduled for November 29, 2026.
EPPO confirmed carrying out investigative measures at ADIF, AESF, and the Court of Auditors, stating the probe targets potential fraud tied to EU funding for the Madrid-Seville high-speed line’s safety and signalling upgrades. ADIF said it cooperated fully and provided requested information. EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas described the proximity of two fatal accidents in the same year as “very worrying” and noted
Spain requested assistance from the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) with its national inquiry. Survivors from Spain’s three deadliest train crashes—Angrois (2013), Adamuz (2026), and Urda (2026)—have called for greater investment in rail safety and maintenance to prevent further disasters.
The Urda disaster has contributed to a significant drop in ridership and widespread service cancellations on Spain’s high-speed rail network. Public confidence in the rail system has been deeply affected by the recent accidents. The 2013 Angrois crash remains the country’s deadliest, killing 79 people, while earlier crashes in 2026 involved causes like excessive speed, track problems, and human
error.
EU funds intended for the modernization and safety improvements of Spain’s railway infrastructure are under close scrutiny amid these incidents. The EPPO investigation aims to verify whether those funds were appropriately managed and spent, given the critical role of signaling and communication systems demonstrated by failures such as the LZB outage during the Urda accident.
