Transport Minister Óscar Puente has stated that the train derailment that occurred last Saturday in Madrid was to “avoid any risk” thanks to the decisions made by an Adif worker. It is still to be determined whether that train would have actually collided with another train traveling on the same track.
According to the minister's explanation, the train that derailed was being towed to the workshop and at some point, for reasons that still need to be clarified, it detached from the tow and began a kind of free fall through the Chamartín tunnel.
Bridge, about the decision of the Adif worker
“He did it to avoid any risk to the people and to other trains that were near Atocha”
At that moment, a worker at the Adif control center chose to divert it to one of the tracks to cause its derailment and avoid a potential collision at Atocha with another train.
The train that derailed last Saturday in Madrid.
“If the train had continued on its path, it could have reached the railway yard at Atocha and collided with any train that might have been passing through at that moment,” Puente pointed out.
The minister has argued in favor of allowing “the investigation committee” to work and stated that the decision of that worker was made “to avoid any risk to people and to other trains in the vicinity of Atocha.”