In January, another train accident occurred near Adamuz in southern Spain, killing 46 people.
A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents in less than a year, Puente told the Spanish parliament on Tuesday.
He also insisted that the high-speed rail line between Madrid and Seville that was hit by the accident “is not abandoned or forgotten infrastructure.”
Puente pointed out that the government has launched a 780 million euro renovation plan.
After the accident, the transport minister promised to work “tirelessly” to restore confidence in Spain’s high-speed rail network, AFP reports.
He has been transport minister in the Spanish Socialist government since 2023. Óscar Puente has also announced that he will not run in the upcoming Spanish elections.
The accident that took place in the Toledo region of Spain last week occurred when a high-speed train traveling from Madrid to Seville crashed into another high-speed train that was stationary on the tracks.
The following day, Óscar Puente said that the train accident was caused by human error, after an “inexplicable” order was given from a central control center for Spain’s trains when a safety system had stopped working.
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