Spain’s Transport Secretary has resigned after it emerged dozens of new trains ordered for two regions were too big to fit in tunnels.
A total of 31 commuter and medium distance trains were ordered in 2020 for the regions of Asturias and Cantabria, but it emerged just weeks ago that under the original designs the trains would not have fitted in tunnels.
The trains will be redesigned but the subsequent and years-long delays have angered leaders in both regions and led to demands for resignations.
Miguel Ángel Revilla, the regional president of Cantabria, called for urgent action, while Adrián Barbón, the president of nearby Asturias, said he was “baffled, angry and disappointed”.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Isabel Pardo de Vera, quit on Monday, as did the president of the state rail company Renfe, Isaías Taboas.
When the error became public early February, Renfe and the state-owned rail infrastructure company Adif fired two senior officials.
The Transport Ministry says the errors were spotted early on and no money has been wasted.
However, both regions will now have to wait for another two or three years before they get their new trains.
The resignations came hours before Transport Minister Raquel Sánchez was due to meet the regional presidents of Asturias and Cantabria to explain the blunder in the design measurements.
In a bid to make amends, travel on the Asturian and Cantabrian networks affected by the delays will be free until early 2026, the government announced.
“From the moment I found out about this matter, I’ve done everything I could to find out what happened and to find a solution,” Mr Sánchez, told reporters on Monday.
“We’ve accepted responsibility, said sorry, recognised the mistake and determined responsibility.”
Mr Sánchez said an internal audit has begun and a working group has been set up to speed up construction “as much as possible”.
The government has claimed that “not a single euro taxpayers’ money has been wasted as a result.
“It should be remembered that no train has been manufactured, since the inconsistencies were detected in the early stages of the design of the new units, and that no Spanish euro has been wasted,” the transport ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
“It is that the search for and approval of the optimal solution to design the largest, most modern, fastest and most efficient trains possible and adapted to the unique railway infrastructure of Cantabria and Asturias has not implied the waste of public resources.”
