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peri-cl | on: Spain train crash: 'At least 10 dead' in high-speed collision
El Pais is reporting they think it was a controller error,

https://elpais.com/espana/2026-10-28/por-que-han-chocado-dos...

An automated system[*] had failed earlier this morning, so controllers were working manually.

[*] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linienzugbeeinflussung ("LZB")

[added translation]: "The LZB safety system, which controls Spain's high-speed rail network, malfunctioned on Wednesday morning, causing about eight trains to come to a halt in the area. The control center then switched to manual control and ordered all trains to resume operation. However, the Iryo, for reasons that remain unclear, was unable to start and remained stationary. And that is where human error came into play, according to these initial hypotheses."

numpad0 | parent | next
They ran the trains with no blocking, not even tokens!? In 2026!? Unbelievable.
hecturchi | root | parent
There was a human override after all trains stopped.
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weebull | parent
Honestly, to blame the controller after the automated system has failed is pretty low. The system does not run this way normally for good reasons, and whilst the controller maybe trained to handle the situation they won't be well practised at it.

The primary reason is computer failure followed by the decision to run the system manually.

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