A judicial report prepared by Spain’s Guardia Civil has revealed that the railway track at Adamuz, in Córdoba province, had already fractured around 22 hours before the fatal train collision that occurred on 18 January 2026.
According to the report submitted to the investigating court, the break in the rail infrastructure should have triggered an automatic safety alert. However, due to a configuration failure in the monitoring and safety systems managed by Adif, Spain’s rail infrastructure administrator, the alert was never activated.
Investigators indicated that, under normal operating conditions, the system is designed to detect anomalies such as rail fractures and immediately notify control centres. This would allow preventive measures to be taken, including stopping or diverting trains before they enter a hazardous section of track.
The failure to generate this warning meant that the damaged track remained undetected by operational systems, allowing train traffic to continue as normal despite the underlying risk.
The accident involved a high-speed train operated by Iryo and an Alvia service operated by Renfe. The collision resulted in 46 fatalities and dozens of injuries, making it one of the most serious rail accidents in Spain in recent years.
The findings of the Guardia Civil report are expected to play a key role in the ongoing judicial investigation, particularly in determining whether there was negligence in infrastructure maintenance, system configuration, or operational oversight.
The case continues to be examined by judicial authorities, with further technical assessments and responsibilities yet to be formally established.
