Spain’s High‑Speed Train Network Is Plagued by Old Signaling Systems. They May Have Caused the Deadly Crash
Shortly after 8am, two high-speed trains set off from Madrid’s Atocha station bound for Seville Santa Justa, but neither reached their destination. A failure in the LZB system – an automatic safety, signaling and protection system that monitors trains’ movement and activates automatic emergency braking – triggered a chain of events that led to a fatal accident, which killed 69 people and left many more injured.