Railway workers' union hits back at Renfe after Malaga crash, saying the train was too long for where it was stopped

A railway workers' union has fired back at claims that human error by a driver was the cause of Saturday's collision between two trains on the medium-distance line between Malaga city and Seville.

The suggestion is being probed by train operator Renfe and Adif after both the train and rail infrastructure operators launched independent investigations to get to the bottom of what led to the incident at El Chorro - Caminito del Rey station on the evening of 16 December. Their initial investigations suggested one of the drivers passed through a red light and struck a parked train. Thirteen people, three of them children, suffered minor injuries in the accident. They were treated at the scene and two were taken to the Guadalhorce hospital.

But the CGT union issued a harsh statement pointing the finger at Renfe for having allowed a 149-metre-long double train to park in a spot equipped for a 100-metre unit. Union spokesperson Miguel Montenegro told SUR the train driver is very upset: "He is having a very bad time because they are already pointing the finger at him as being responsible".

Montenegro accused Renfe of wanting to save on a driver by having a Malaga-bound train with two train units operating as one. He said he also suspected the braking system on the other train could have failed. "They are obsolete trains that break down a lot. We would not be surprised if there had been a failure of this type. We don't even have the spare parts to replace items when they break down," he said.

"Faced with the accusations of human error in the accident at El Chorro last Saturday night, looking for excuses to avoid taking responsibility for those who are really to blame for the railway emergency we are experiencing in Andalucía, we want to make it clear that this accident, in which fortunately we have no fatalities to report, could have been avoided if a double train with a length of 149 metres was not parked in a railway facility that can only accommodate a train of 100 metres long, a decision for which only Renfe's management is responsible," CGT said.

Montenegro also criticised a lack of inspectors on board the damaged train wreck and a lack of attention to passengers. "It is absolutely intolerable that the scarce railway staff is always blamed for any accident or incident, while those who run the public railway companies, with millionaire salaries, empty workplaces and trains of workers, leave our workshops without spare parts to undertake repairs with guarantees, close train stations limiting the use of public transport to thousands of taxpayers, cut budgets for the maintenance of infrastructure and railway vehicles," he added.