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Spanish Train Inquiry Looks at a Driver Obsessed With Speed Spanish Train Inquiry Focuses on Driver With a Taste for Speed
(about 3 hours later)
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain — The grainy video lasts little more than 10 seconds, but long enough to show the blazing speed of a Spanish passenger train bound for Santiago de Compostela that bounced against a curved wall and thundered off the track like a twisted toy. SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain — The train driver did little to hide his taste for speed. He posted a photograph of a locomotive speedometer needle stuck at 200 kilometers, or about 125 miles, per hour on Facebook last year, boasting that the reading “has not been tampered with” and openly relishing the idea of racing past the authorities.
Most high-speed lines that are part of the European Rail Traffic system are covered by a sophisticated GPS-based surveillance system that constantly monitors trains’ speed and that automatically brakes them at speed limits. “Imagine what a rush it would be traveling alongside the Civil Guard, and passing them so that their speed traps go off,” he wrote, in all capitals. “Hehe, that would be quite a fine for renfe, hehe,” referring to his employer, the Spanish rail company.
Slower trains and trains crossing urban areas in Spain and other European countries use a less intrusive system that warns the driver with sound and lights at excessive speeds, but does not automatically brake the train, according to María Carmen Palao, a spokeswoman with Spain’s ADIF rail infrastructure company. Now that train driver, Francisco José Garzón Amo, a veteran with more than three decades of experience, is under investigation by a judge in connection with one of Europe’s worst rail accidents in recent years.
The accident, she said, took place roughly two to three miles outside the station at Santiago de Compostela, in the “transition zone” between the two systems. The wreck occurred on the Galicia line, run by the rail operator Renfe and opened in 2011. In a chilling video from a security camera, the passenger train he was driving rounded a curve at high speed on Wednesday night, tumbling violently off the track, slamming against a curved wall and piling up in a twisted wreck. Eighty people were killed.
The train’s driver survived the accident with light injuries and is under police guard, though he has not been formally arrested. He is “lucid and able to speak,” according to Carmen Prieto, a spokeswoman for the Spanish Development Ministry. On Thursday, Spanish news media reported that the driver had said the train’s speed had been about 120 miles per hour, more than double the limit in the stretch of track where the train derailed. On the day of the wreck, he took over from another driver just 60 miles before the crash, according to Spanish news reports.
The train was almost full, carrying 218 passengers and merrymakers who were returning to the region for a special holiday on July 25. It is the feast day for St. James the Apostle, the patron saint of Spain who for centuries has inspired pilgrims to walk El Camino de Santiago or the Way of St. James. The pilgrimage has had a burst of popularity in recent years, drawing walkers from around the world. The train was almost full, carrying more than 200 passengers and merrymakers returning to the region for a special holiday on July 25. It is the feast day for St. James the Apostle, the patron saint of Spain, who for centuries has inspired pilgrims to walk El Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James. The pilgrimage has had a burst of popularity in recent years, drawing walkers from around the world.
After the crash, the city of Santiago de Compostela canceled its extensive celebration and the authorities urged people to donate blood for the victims. After the crash, the city of Santiago de Compostela canceled its extensive celebration and the authorities urged people to donate blood. Thousands made a very different kind of pilgrimage to the site of the disaster, watching as rescuers used cranes and trucks to hoist the engines of the wrecked train. All — children, teens and older people — stood in funereal silence.
And thousands of people made another sort of pilgrimage to the site of the disaster. Walking down and up in a small rural path next to the station, they watched as rescuers used cranes and trucks to hoist the engines of the wrecked train. All — children, teens and older people — stood in funeral-like silence. Nearby, in a building where an information center had been set up, police officers kept the victims’ families from the public eye. Some walked around the building in tears, hugging and comforting each other, while others grew frustrated waiting to see their loved ones.
Nearby, in a building where an information center had been set up, police officers kept the victims’ families from the public eye. Some walked around the building in tears, hugging and comforting each other. “Now, at 9.30 p.m., is when they allowed us to go and see our family member,” said María, a relative of a victim who did not want her full name used. “Twenty-four hours waiting, in these conditions. That’s too much.”
Outpourings of sympathy came from all corners, including the White House. “On behalf of the American people, we offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families and loved ones of the more than 80 people who lost their lives,” President Obama said in a statement. The injured included at least six Americans. Most high-speed lines that are part of the European rail traffic system are covered by a GPS-based surveillance network that constantly monitors trains’ speed and automatically brakes them at speed limits.
In a letter to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said he was “deeply saddened” by the accident. “Such a serious accident, with so many people dead and injured, is a tragedy for Spain and provokes such deep emotions,” he said. Slower trains and trains crossing urban areas in Spain and other countries use a less intrusive system that warns the driver with sound and lights at excessive speeds, but does not automatically brake the train, according to María Carmen Palao, a spokeswoman for Spain’s ADIF rail infrastructure company.
Mr. Rajoy, who was born in the region, visited the scene of the accident and declared three days of mourning. King Juan Carlos and his wife, Sofía, also rushed to Santiago de Compostela. The accident, she said, took place two to three miles outside the station at Santiago de Compostela, in the “transition zone” between the two systems. The wreck occurred on the Galicia line, run by the rail operator Renfe and opened in 2011.
“In the face of a tragedy such as just happened in Santiago de Compostela on the eve of its big day, I can only express my deepest sympathy as a Spaniard and a Galician,” Mr. Rajoy said in a written statement. He later declared three days of official mourning. The train’s driver survived the accident with light injuries and is under police guard, although he has not been formally arrested. He is “lucid and able to speak,” said Carmen Prieto, a spokeswoman for the Spanish Development Ministry.
The eight-car train, which left Madrid at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, was traveling to Spain’s coast when it derailed at 8:41 p.m., according to Renfe, the train company, which said its technicians were cooperating with the rescue and investigation operations. The Spanish newspaper El País reported that people at the train company said that alcohol had not been found in the driver’s system, but the security footage showing the train barreling into the turn and abruptly careening off the rails quickly raised concerns that he was traveling too fast.
On Thursday, cranes were used to lift the wreckage off the tracks as rescue workers tried to ensure that all the passengers had been accounted for. Even in his Facebook message, posted in 2012 but removed late Thursday morning, Mr. Garzón elicited some astounded comments from friends.
Shocked witnesses described the scale of the destruction as the dead were taken to a temporary morgue. “Dude, you’re going full speed, braaaaake,” one commenter wrote.
“The road is full of cadavers,” a radio reporter, Xaime López, said on the station Cadena Ser. “It’s striking: you almost can’t even count them.” “Christ, you’re doing 200km/h,” another said.
The accident was Spain’s worst train crash since 1972, when 86 people were killed in the southwest of the country. In recent years, Spain has invested heavily in its rail system, creating a modern network. Outpourings of sympathy for Wednesday’s disaster came from all corners, including the White House. “On behalf of the American people, we offer our deepest sympathies and condolences,” President Obama said in a statement. The State Department confirmed Thursday that one American died and five were injured in the accident.
In a letter to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said he was “deeply saddened” by the accident. “Such a serious accident, with so many people dead and injured, is a tragedy for Spain and provokes such deep emotions,” he said.
Mr. Rajoy, who was born in the region, visited the scene and declared three days of official mourning. King Juan Carlos and his wife, Sofía, also rushed to Santiago de Compostela.
“In the face of a tragedy such as just happened in Santiago de Compostela on the eve of its big day, I can only express my deepest sympathy as a Spaniard and a Galician,” Mr. Rajoy said in a written statement.
The eight-car train, which left Madrid at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, was traveling to the coast when it derailed around 8:44 p.m., according to the clock on the security video. Witnesses described the destruction as the dead were taken to a temporary morgue. “The road is full of cadavers,” a radio reporter, Xaime López, said on the station Cadena Ser. “It’s striking: you almost can’t even count them.”
The accident was Spain’s worst train crash since 1972, when 86 people were killed in the southwest of the country.

Silvia Taulés reported from Santiago de Compostela, and Doreen Carvajal from Paris. Stephen Castle contributed reporting from London, and Caroline Brothers from Paris.

Silvia Taulés reported from Santiago de Compostela, and Doreen Carvajal from Paris. Stephen Castle contributed reporting from London, and Caroline Brothers from Paris.