Two high-ranking Spanish officials have resigned because of ordered trains of the wrong size, which … do not fit in the tunnels.
A major mistake was found in the design of trains for the northern regions of Spain – it turned out that the trains made according to the initial calculation would not fit in the tunnels, writes Associated Press. The miscalculation caused a scandal and led to the resignation of two officials in the transport industry.
31 narrow-gauge suburban and medium-sized trains for the regions of Asturias and Cantabria were ordered in 2020. But only a few weeks ago, a fatal error in the calculations was discovered – the trains would not fit in the tunnels of these regions.
Now the trains will be redesigned, which will lead to significant delays in their delivery. Both regions are extremely outraged by this information, because they now have to wait another 2-3 years, and demanded the immediate resignation of those responsible.
On Monday, Isabel Pardo de Vera, secretary of state for transport and the minister’s right-hand man, submitted her resignation. The president of the state railway company RENFE, Isaias Taboas, did the same. The resignation came just hours before transport minister Raquel Sanchez was scheduled to meet with the regional presidents of Asturias and Cantabria to explain a gross error in design measurements.
In early February, when the error became known, two more senior officials were sacked by RENFE and state-owned rail infrastructure company Adif.
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