Spain Reduces Speed Limit On Madrid-barcelona Train Line

MADRID, Jan 21 (Bernama-dpa) -- Spain has reduced the maximum speed for trains on the main line between Madrid and Barcelona after the serious train accident in the south of the country, network operator Adif said on Tuesday, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

For now, high-speed trains may travel at only 160 kilometres per hour (km/h) instead of 300km/h on a 150-km section.

Train drivers had reported uneven sections of track, which were due to be inspected overnight. Media reports said some drivers on the route had already voluntarily reduced speed on Monday to signal dissatisfaction with the condition of the rails.

The normal two-and-a-half-hour journey of more than 650 km between the two cities increases by at least about 30 minutes under the Adif restriction, the Spanish newspapers La Vanguardia and El País reported.

At least 41 people were killed, and dozens were injured in Sunday's train accident in Andalusia, where two high-speed trains collided near the municipality of Adamuz, north-east of Córdoba.

As a possible cause of one of the worst train accidents in the country's history, Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a track defect or a fault on one of the trains could not be ruled out. But "all hypotheses remain open," he said.

--BERNAMA-dpa