Spain ramps up railway investment amid political backlash over deadly accidents

Spain’s transport minister Oscar Puente said on Thursday that the government has stepped up investment across the railway network after years of underfunding, a point he underlined while senators pressed him over two recent train accidents.

A high-speed rail crash in southern Spain on 18 January killed 45 people, while a derailment in Catalonia two days later killed a train driver.

The incidents have fuelled political and public pressure on the government to explain whether safety and maintenance have kept pace with the country’s expanding network.

Puente, who was heckled by opposition lawmakers shouting "resign" as he approached the podium, said maintenance spending per kilometre had risen 66% since 2017 and was now at or above the European average. He said France spends slightly more and Italy slightly less.

He rejected European Commission data and expert assessments suggesting that investment has not matched Spain’s rapid rise in passenger numbers and network size.

According to Puente, Spain invested about 30 billion euros less between 2010 and 2018 than it would have if pre-financial crisis spending levels had been maintained.

He blamed the shortfall on decisions taken during the 2011-2018 government led by the conservative People’s Party. It imposed broad spending cuts as the EU pushed for austerity during Spain’s public debt crisis following the housing market collapse.

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Puente said total annual rail investment has since climbed to around 5 billion euros in 2025, up from roughly 1.7 billion euros in 2017, arguing that the current Socialist-led government is reversing the effects of prolonged underfunding.

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