https://sagire.online/topic/transit/ Rolling analysis and coverage of geopolitics, energy, security and supply chains. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 02:48:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/783d7ae6/https://sagire.online/wire/783d7ae6/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:24:00 -0300Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, resigned from his post and from frontline politics to try to save the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) campaign, badly damaged after the second fatal high-speed rail accident in nine months. The crash in Toledo province killed 69 people and came just nine months after a similar accident on the same high-speed line; the earlier one, on the Madrid-Seville line, left 46 dead. Spain is holding a snap general election on November 29, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez running for re-election; he brought the date forward following a wave of social protest over housing affordability. Puente also announced that he is giving up the socialist candidacy in Valladolid.SpainElectionsTransit https://sagire.online/wire/454c97a8/https://sagire.online/wire/454c97a8/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 17:22:00 -0300Óscar Puente resigned as Spain’s transport minister six days after the high-speed train collision that killed at least 69 people. He announced the decision in Congress, after giving evidence on the previous Wednesday’s disaster near Urda, south of Madrid, when a train smashed into the back of another that had stopped on the same line. Puente justified his departure by citing two serious accidents in less than a year, and mentioned January’s crash on the same line, which killed 46 people. He also withdrew his name from the candidate lists for the early legislative elections on November 29. According to Puente, the control center run by Adif, Spain’s state-owned rail infrastructure manager, allowed the AVE train to keep running even though its LZB automatic safety system had failed, and the train covered about 25 kilometers at more than 160 km/h before the collision. Around 200 people were injured in the crash, in addition to the 69 dead.SpainEuropePolitical crisisTransit https://sagire.online/wire/def0f12f/https://sagire.online/wire/def0f12f/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 04:21:00 -0300Somali pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini, carrying 23 people, and the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean warned the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could become a floating base for further attacks. The Azini was hijacked on Thursday between Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a Maritime Police Force officer from Puntland said on Sunday. According to the officer, 12 pirates seized the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali guards.SomaliaIranHorn of AfricaTransit https://sagire.online/wire/6b16bb44/https://sagire.online/wire/6b16bb44/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:23:00 -0300At least 68 people were killed and more than 100 injured when the Renfe train rear-ended a stationary Iryo train near the town of Urda, in Toledo province, on the high-speed line between Madrid and Seville, CNN reported. Twenty-four people died on the Renfe train and 44 on the Iryo train, both traveling between the two cities. Transportation Minister Óscar Puente said a computer failure affected the LZB safety system along 63 kilometers (40 miles) and automatically stopped all trains in the stretch; state rail manager ADIF took manual command and authorized the Renfe train to continue southbound despite the red light and with no speed restrictions, on an erroneous order from a controller. “There was a red signal prohibiting movement, yet the train was authorized to proceed,” Puente said. Audio released by El País shows the controller telling the AVE driver to resume “la marcha normal”, instead of the “marcha a vista” of 40 km/h set out in the protocol.SpainTransitEurope https://sagire.online/wire/53a15f03/https://sagire.online/wire/53a15f03/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 14:23:00 -0300The death toll from the train collision in Toledo rose to at least 74, according to Spain’s transport ministry. The independent transport accident investigation authority AITAT published a preliminary report with the same figure, still provisional, and King Felipe VI expressed his sorrow over the “terrible accident” as he and Queen Letizia visited a hospital where injured victims were being treated.SpainEuropeTransit https://sagire.online/wire/dfb43e9c/https://sagire.online/wire/dfb43e9c/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 12:23:00 -0300The investigation into the train crash that killed at least 69 people near Toledo on Wednesday morning is examining why controllers told the driver of a Renfe AVE train to restart the journey after a signaling failure, according to The Guardian. Both trains had been halted when the signaling system failed; the driver of the state-owned train was told to restart and crashed into the train in front, run by the private operator Iryo. The instruction to proceed “con marcha normale” — under normal operations rather than at low speed — was described by Transport Minister Óscar Puente as an “inexplicable decision”.SpainEuropeTransit https://sagire.online/wire/d6afb27d/https://sagire.online/wire/d6afb27d/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:23:00 -0300The Renfe train traveling from Madrid to Seville, with 397 passengers on board, struck the rear of the stationary Iryo train, which carried 147, on Wednesday morning near Urda in the province of Toledo, according to the BBC. The collision killed at least 69 people and injured dozens, and Spain began three days of national mourning. Audio recordings between drivers and the control center released on Thursday appear to show the Renfe train was cleared to move even though the Iryo train had stalled about 25 km ahead; according to the transport minister, the Renfe train was ordered to proceed in error. Emergency crews continued operations at the site, with the death toll at 69, France 24 reported.SpainTransitCritical infrastructure https://sagire.online/wire/3d83c54f/https://sagire.online/wire/3d83c54f/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 20:23:00 -0300Oscar Puente told reporters in Madrid that the red signal was triggered by a computer communications failure, which automatically stopped traffic, and that an erroneous decision was then made to restart the Renfe train. At least 68 people died when a Spanish high-speed express slammed into a stationary train on Wednesday, Spain's second fatal rail crash this year and Europe's deadliest since 2013, according to France 24. Sánchez said the tragedy will be investigated and that the country will strengthen high-speed rail safety if needed to rebuild confidence in the system.SpainEuropeCritical infrastructureTransit https://sagire.online/wire/13e44c3a/https://sagire.online/wire/13e44c3a/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 14:22:00 -0300The provisional toll from the train collision in Urda rose to at least 68 dead, 24 in the AVE train and 44 in the Iryo train, according to Le Monde, citing the announcement by the president of the Castile-La Mancha region, Emiliano García-Page. Spain’s socialist leader decreed three days of national mourning, from Thursday to Saturday.SpainEuropeTransit https://sagire.online/wire/48d67320/https://sagire.online/wire/48d67320/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:23:00 -0300The failure of the line's main signaling system and the subsequent decision to resume service manually are at the centre of the early findings on the train collision in Toledo, which may have been triggered by human error, according to Spanish government sources, as reported by El País. Eight trains were brought to a halt in the area after the failure; the control center then switched to manual operation and instructed all trains to resume their journeys. Spain's transport minister pointed to an “inexplicable” decision as a possible cause of the collision, according to Xinhua.SpainEuropeTransit https://sagire.online/wire/dda7fd15/https://sagire.online/wire/dda7fd15/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 10:22:00 -0300The death toll from the train collision in Urda, in the province of Toledo, has risen to 64 dead and 58 injured, according to the local government's update on Wednesday. Forty of the dead were traveling on the Iryo train and 24 on the Renfe AVE, according to the same tally. The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, the region where the crash happened, confirmed 64 dead, according to the BBC. Emergency services sources told El País that a Renfe AVE train hit the rear of an Iryo train stopped on the tracks, and two cars fell down an embankment.SpainTransitCritical infrastructureEurope https://sagire.online/wire/c95afb82/https://sagire.online/wire/c95afb82/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 08:23:00 -0300A high-speed train slammed into the rear of another train that had stopped, derailing two cars and killing at least 30 people in central Spain, according to local media, NPR reported. Spanish authorities initially reported 10 deaths, and Esther Padilla, spokeswoman for the Castilla-La Mancha region, said “that number will surely rise,” according to NPR. The accident involved a train from state-owned RENFE and one from the private company IRYO.SpainTransitEurope https://sagire.online/wire/66ecac6d/https://sagire.online/wire/66ecac6d/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 06:22:00 -0300At least 10 people are feared dead and many injured after two high-speed trains collided in Toledo province in central Spain, according to The Guardian. Services between Madrid and the southern region of Andalusia were suspended following a rear-end collision between two trains on Wednesday morning. A local government spokesperson told TVE that the death toll “will almost certainly rise.”SpainTransitEuropeConflict https://sagire.online/wire/30c0d3b8/https://sagire.online/wire/30c0d3b8/Sun, 25 Oct 2026 16:22:00 -0300Supreme Federal Court (STF) justice Cristiano Zanin ordered a two-hour extension, to 7pm Brasília time, of the closing of vote receiving in every polling station across Brazil. Hours earlier, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's coalition had asked the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to extend voting to 7pm in cities of at least nine states – São Paulo, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Roraima, Piauí, Paraíba, Pará, Paraná and Rio de Janeiro. In Salvador, checks by the Bahia Regional Electoral Court (TRE-BA) found that less than 50% of the bus fleet expected on weekdays was running.BrazilElectionsJusticeTransit https://sagire.online/wire/f419dfb0/https://sagire.online/wire/f419dfb0/Fri, 23 Oct 2026 22:24:00 -0300A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile seven nautical miles off the Omani coast, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, according to the Middle East Eye. The vessel, which was transiting outbound in the Strait of Hormuz, was able to continue its journey to the next port of call.OmanStrait of HormuzOilTransitConflict