Madrid (Spain), 26 Jan. (LaPresse) – The train accident that occurred on Sunday, 18 January, in Adamuz took place at a point where a piece of new rail, replaced during work completed last spring, was welded to a section of rail produced in 1989, which dates back to the original Madrid-Seville high-speed line, the oldest in Spain, inaugurated in 1992. This is according to sources familiar with the investigation, as reported by the Spanish media. Transport Minister Oscar Puente said that the section of rail that broke and caused the Iryo train to derail is “new”, manufactured in 2023 by ArcelorMittal and installed between May and June 2025. The minister pointed out that the rail had undergone seven geometric and dynamic inspections since it was installed, which is more than the norm, and that no train driver had reported any problems with the track at that point. In an interview with Spanish public television channel TVE, Puente recalled that €700 million had been invested in the renovation of the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. “It has been completely overhauled and all the elements that were technically deemed to need replacing have been replaced,” he said, arguing that it is standard practice in Spain and other countries to replace only those parts of the track that are deemed necessary and that, for this reason, there are still some sections of the Madrid-Seville line that date back to the original line inaugurated in 1992.