Spain’s latest deadly train crash puts human error and systemic failure under scrutiny

BARCELONA, Spain — Was Spain’s second major train collision this year caused by human error or failures in its once touted high-speed rail network? It depends on whom you ask.

Spain’s transport minister was quick to lay most of the blame on a traffic controller’s poor judgment for Wednesday’s collision in Toledo province, which killed 69 people.

But railway unions are pushing back. They point instead to what they describe as deteriorated working conditions — fewer traffic controllers with more work than ever — that have made it increasingly difficult to ensure the safety of 45 million passengers annually.

A judge and a special government commission are conducting separate investigations into the deadly crash, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has pledged to get to the bottom of it.

“This investigation must determine how and why this catastrophe happened,” Spain’s King Felipe VI said on Thursday after visiting injured passengers in a Toledo hospital. “We will have to take measures so this never happens again.”

The chain of events that ended in disaster started at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, when the communication system key to the functioning of the line’s security system went down. The system, called LZB, monitors the…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business