Spain train crashes: EU prosecutors raid rail agencies over possible fraud in Madrid–Seville line funding

European Union prosecutors have searched the offices of Spain's railway infrastructure company and safety regulator as part of an investigation into possible fraud linked to the Madrid–Seville high-speed line.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) carried out the measures on Friday at Adif, which manages Spain's rail network, the State Railway Safety Agency and the Court of Auditors. It is looking into EU money meant to renovate the line and upgrade its safety, signalling and communications systems. Adif said it had cooperated.

Spain has suffered two deadly high-speed rail crashes this year. At least 69 people were killed in a collision near Urda, in Toledo province, on 28 October, and 46 passengers died in a crash near Adamuz in January. The country's worst modern rail disaster, at Angrois in 2013, killed 79.

As PauseandPonderTV reported last week, Transport Minister Óscar Puente resigned after the Urda crash, saying it was a matter of political dignity. The president of Adif, Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña, has now also stepped down. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo is covering the transport brief until elections later this month.

Spain has asked the EU's railway agency to help with its own investigation into the causes of the crashes.