EMILY KWONG, HOST:
Tomorrow, train conductors in Spain start a three-day strike to call for better safety on the nation's rail network. This comes after a train collision in January that killed 46 people. The investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing. NPR's Miguel Macias reports from Seville.
MIGUEL MACIAS, BYLINE: It was a regular Sunday afternoon. Many Spaniards were following Week 20 of LaLiga, the famous soccer league. Barcelona was playing that night.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Goal (vocalizing).
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MACIAS: That's sound from Cadena SER radio. But then, the soccer play-by-play was interrupted by breaking news.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: Over the hours, the worst fears were confirmed as the death toll rose steadily. By the time Spaniards got up the next morning, it was a full-on tragedy.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: The national public television had the death toll at 24 at the time, but it was still rising. Some things were ruled out right away. It wasn't excessive speed. It wasn't old trains in disrepair. It wasn't human error of any kind. Officials called the accident tremendously strange, especially as the trains which collided were on a straight, parallel section of track. The morning after, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez admitted getting answers would take a while.
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PRIME MINISTER PEDRO SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: "Spanish society is wondering what happened, how it happened, and how this tragedy was even possible," Sanchez said. Jose Maria Galan (ph) was a passenger riding on the second train, the one that crashed into the first train that derailed, both traveling at over 120 miles per hour.
JOSE MARIA GALAN: (Through interpreter) When people tell me that I was born again, I tell them that we are actually unfortunate because I don't wish this experience on anyone.
MACIAS: He says at the beginning of the crash, he was just in disbelief.
GALAN: (Through interpreter) But when the shaking becomes more violent with more hits and acceleration, that's when you know it's either going to be good luck or death.
MACIAS: He says he was lucky to be in the fourth car. The first and second cars were completely destroyed. Immediately after the crash, it was pitch-black, and Galan and other passengers walked from their train to the train that had derailed first.
GALAN: (Through interpreter) Trying to assess the terrain with the visibility of about 1 meter from a cellphone flashlight and running into human remains on the way generates a particular smell that attaches to your nose and instinctively gives you an adrenaline rush that pushes you to flee.
MACIAS: When he finally ran into two police officers...
GALAN: (Through interpreter) They see me and ask where I'm coming from. I say I'm coming from the other train. They look at me with a shocked expression on their faces, and they ask me, what other train?
MACIAS: As Galan and other survivors walked the police officers to more wreckage, he wondered how this all could have been avoided. The stakes are high. Spain has the second-largest high-speed rail network in the world, just after China. Cristina Bolinches is a business journalist working at elDiario.es. They published an in-depth look at investment in high-speed in Spain.
CRISTINA BOLINCHES: (Through interpreter) What we have seen is that since 2019, before private companies began operating, the number of travelers has skyrocketed by 70%. However, the investment in maintenance by the Spanish company that manages the rail network has increased by less than 40%.
MACIAS: Bolinches explains that the train system in Spain is a hybrid one.
BOLINCHES: (Through interpreter) In Spain, we have a dual model because the infrastructure, tracks and stations are public, so is the main railway operator, Renfe. And then there are two private operators which only operate high-speed trains and only on some routes - those that have the most passengers.
MACIAS: The state-owned company in charge of the rail infrastructure, called ADIF, operates at a loss. Last year, it lost over $230 million. There is no indication that ADIF is cutting corners. And the Spanish transport minister, Oscar Puente, has said that there was no maintenance failure in the accident, as political pressure builds up.
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OSCAR PUENTE: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: "The lack of renovation in parts of the track, specifically at the site of the accident," he says, "is irrelevant from the standpoint of safety." The focus of the investigation is now on a fracture at the spot where two rail sections were joined by welding. That break allegedly made the first train derail. The government claims there was no wrongdoing and that the high-speed network remains highly safe.
GALAN: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: Safe or not, Jose Maria Galan thinks basic measures like a seat belt or airbags could've saved lives. Now he tells me he just needs to forget what happened. The smells and the sights haunt him. Many Spaniards may have trouble forgetting, too, especially if they don't have the luxury of choosing another way to travel every day. Miguel Macias, NPR News, Seville, Spain. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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