Zoom
Photo of the Alvia train involved in the Adamuz train crash. EFE Adamuz train crash 2026 Spanish police report: Adamuz rail tracks broke day before fatal crashAdif systems detected the fracture 22 hours before the accident, but a configuration flaw prevented the safety warning from activating
Melchor Saíz-Pardo and Mateo Balín
Wednesday, 8 April 2026, 13:45
The latest report from the Guardia Civil’s judicial unit in Cordoba, submitted to the judge investigating the Adamuz rail disaster, reveals that the tracks broke 22 hours before the fatal accident.
According to investigators, a flaw in the configuration of the safety systems at infrastructure firm Adif prevented an automatic alert from being triggered.
In theory, such an alert would have prevented the collision between the Iryo and Alvia trains on 18 January. The disaster claimed 46 lives and left dozens injured after a Malaga-Madrid train derailed and collided with an Alvia service travelling on the opposite track towards Huelva.
In the 70-page report, the Guardia Civil concludes that "the accident originated on the railway line near kilometre marker 318 [...] as a result of a derailment caused by a broken rail." Investigators confirm that a broken rail or weld remains the primary focus of the inquiry.
Analysis of the technical data has revealed that the signalling systems detected an electrical disturbance long before the first train derailed. The voltage in the track circuits is normally maintained at around two volts. However, "from 9.46pm on 17 January, there was a drop to around 1.5 volts and normal voltage did not recover until the accident". This sustained variation is consistent with a crack or break in the steel, as per the Guardia Civil's report.
Despite the technical evidence, the Sam (maintenance support system) passively registered the voltage drop at the Hornachuelos base, near Adamuz, without issuing any warning to traffic control personnel. The police report states that "the signalling system was not configured to automatically alert to such a drop due to the unreliability of the method on this railway infrastructure".
Related story