Spain’s railway tragedies have lessons for India’s high-speed train dreams
Two train accidents happened in Spain within just a few days, making people worry about railway safety. The first and more serious accident happened on Sunday in southern Spain.
A train with 289 passengers went off the tracks and crashed into another train coming from the opposite direction. Sadly, 43 people lost their lives. The second accident happened near Barcelona when a train hit a wall that had fallen onto the tracks. One trainee driver died, and 37 people were injured.
This was surprising because Spain’s railway system is known as one of the safest in Europe. In fact, EU data shows that in 2024, only one person died in a train accident in Spain.
Still, railway workers had warned last year that problems might happen on high-speed train lines because there are more trains running now. Spain has the longest high-speed railway network in Europe.
In India, trains do not yet run at very high speeds, but railway safety is still a big concern. The government says that serious train accidents have gone down a lot over the years. However, people still remember the terrible Balasore train accident in 2023, where 296 people died.
Even though India has improved its tracks, there is still a lot to do. Safety systems like “Kavach,” which helps prevent accidents, have been delayed on important routes. Right now, most trains in India run at 80–90 km per hour. In the future, India’s first high-speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will run much faster, over 300 km per hour. The first part of this train is expected to start in 2027.
The accidents in Spain remind us that when trains run very fast, safety must always come first.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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