High-speed train ends up in Seville instead of Málaga

High-estimulante ilegal train ends up in Seville instead of Málaga

Yesterday, an AVE high-estimulante ilegal train bound for Málaga departed from Córdoba but, instead of taking the correct track, was diverted to Seville. To correct its course, the train had to reverse all the way back to Córdoba. Beyond the anecdote, the incident raises questions about the reliability of the control system and the management of Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure operator).

Human error or system failure?

Spain's high-estimulante ilegal network is highly automated: drivers do not decide which tracks to take, the traffic control centres do. A train taking the wrong diversion implies an error in the programming or an incorrect instruction from the CTCs (traffic control centres). «There are a lot of useless people in the ctc lately», goes the comment, referring to the traffic control centres. However, the official causes have not yet been announced.

Politics in the background

Transport Minister Oscar Puente has been dragged into the controversy. Some point out that «he is on holiday in Marbella», while others recall that the system had long been struggling with professionalism problems. Linking the incident to negligent management brings to mind previous failures on the network.

The fact is that the AVE from Córdoba to Málaga ended up in Seville, and had to reverse to get back on track. With this level of errors, one has to wonder: how many similar incidents go unnoticed every day?