Spanish Minister and Company Head Resign

The head of Spain’s state-owned train company Renfe, Esais Taboas, and the Minister of State for Transport, Isabel Pardo, have resigned from their positions. The two officials submitted their resignations after criticism over design flaws in the 258 million euro train. The top officials announced their resignations shortly before Transport Minister Raquel Sanchez met with the presidents of Spain’s northern states of Asturias and Cantabria on Monday.

Their resignations bring to four the number of people who have been fired and resigned in connection with the scandal. In recent days, Spanish authorities have faced increasing criticism over the development of new trains. These trains are designed so wide that some of the tunnels will not be able to pass through them and this defect will delay their construction by two years.

During a meeting with the presidents of Asturias and Cantabria on Monday, Raquel Sánchez explained the design flaws and shortcomings of these trains.

This train manufacturing scandal came to light after officials announced that the contract awarded by Renfe to CAF in 2020 to manufacture 31 metric gauge trains was delayed due to design flaws. Will be victimized.

The purpose of the construction of these trains was to bring innovation to the railways used by Transport and Renfe in the northern regions of the country, including Asturias and Cantabria, to facilitate medium-distance travel.

But in 2021, Renfe realized that it had miscalculated the trains and would not be able to pass through some tunnels because they were too wide. Due to this, the production of these railway vehicles was stopped.

The president of Cantabria’s local government, Miguel Ángel Rivia, called the error “a very depraved act” and called for the resignation of those responsible for the omission. The Spanish government and Renfe maintain that they had noticed the defect in the design of the trains in time and therefore no money was lost.

The train network in the north of Spain was built in the 19th century. The network passing through the mountainous terrain includes several tunnels of various sizes that do not conform to the modern gauge requirements of rail vehicles.