00:00:00
Speaker 1: We kind of hoped and imagined that there would be times and opportunities where we'd get to cross to our Spanish correspondent, David Penberthy, in Spain because there'd been some sort of food-related international disaster or some sort of slightly comedic international disturbance. That's not the case this morning. There is an absolute tragedy that's unfolded in that part of the world that you can hear a lot about in your news services right across the day. At least 68 people have been killed in a high-speed train crash that is the second significant train crash in quick succession in Spain. How in the hell this can happen in 2026 is anyone's guess. But let's cross to our Spanish correspondent, David Penberthy. Benbo, mate, good to chat with you.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: Good morning. Yeah, great to hear your voice, Will, and you too, Stace. It's a pretty dark old day in Spain, though. And as you rightly said, Will, in January this year, down south, not far from here in the Cadiz area, 46 people died. And this morning, this shocking collision, yet again, another high-speed collision between two of these trains that travel at extraordinary speeds. And, you know, I think the thing is, to put it in a South Australian context, train travel in Spain is not a novelty. It's not like, you know, when you're a student, you catch the overland in Melbourne with some mates or maybe you use the overland occasionally if you're a pensioner. It's not like going on a trip of a lifetime on the Gann or something. Train travel is the way people get around here. Millions and millions of people use the trains. And it's totally shocked Spain to the core. Like we were at soccer training tonight with the kids and it was the only thing parents were talking about. There was one couple we spoke to who were going to go to Barcelona next week on the train. They've cancelled it. They're going to fly instead. And, you know, the country is so train dependent because there's, There's so many cities that aren't sort of far enough where you need to fly, meaning that there's not a sort of very well-connected domestic airline service like we've got in Australia. So, you know, the routes that we're talking about, these are routes that the town of Toledo, which is the former capital of Spain where the collusion occurred– I've been through there since we've been here. In the short time we've been here, we would have been on like 15 train trips. We're meant to be going on a train trip next Friday. And it's just the way you get around. Like it's not a unique thing. Like everybody catches the train.
00:02:50
Speaker 1: We're watching on the live stream at the moment. They're high quality trains, aren't they? For people that try to picture in their head, these are pretty sophisticated pieces of technology.
00:02:58
Speaker 2: This is sort of Japan level sort of stuff. Like the physics of these trains, the first time I caught one, I was just marvelling at the shape of it because they travel so fast. They reach speeds of up to 300 kilometres an hour and they're also 150 metres long. So when you arrive at the train station to board the train, you're sort of looking down the platform and you can't even see the end of the train. They're that long. And they've got these incredible sort of– aerodynamic noses. They almost look like a basking shark. They've got this flat, low, sort of 20-degree angle nose on them because they travel so fast. And this is where the physics of what happened this morning are so horrible because... So, in a nutshell, what happened, there were two trains, both left Madrid, both heading to Seville. The first train left at 7.54am. It was a privately operated train.
00:04:02
Speaker 2: Owned by an Italian company called Irio. So that train left Madrid at 7.54. At 8am, the Spanish state-owned Renfe train left for Seville, travelling behind the Irio train. Now, for some reason, there was a signal failure, and the Italian train stopped. And Back in Atocha, which is the main railway station in Madrid, it sounds like there was some sort of cock up there in the control room where they didn't realise that the Italian train had stopped and they said to the Renfe train, no, no, it's all clear, you keep going and go as fast as you want because this is how the trains get you from A to B in record time. So this train was probably doing between, It was probably doing at least 200 kilometres an hour. Gee. And collectively, we're talking about more than 500 passengers on these two trains. And it just went straight up the backside of the other train. Oh. It's just shocking. And the scale of it is such that collectively, from those poor 500 soldiers on the train, you know, we're talking now about with 68– confirmed deaths, another 150 in hospital, and at least 15 of them touch and go critical, you know, every fifth person who was on the train is either dead or is going to suffer life-altering injuries. So just a shocking, shocking debacle. And, you know, hot on the heels of what happened in January, people are really sort of scratching their heads about, A, the management of it, B, the fact that as Spain becomes such an increasingly visited country, the number of trains using the same system has grown so much. You know, you've got not just Irio, but you've got a French company called Wego, which I've travelled on as well. They're all using the same network. And, you know, given how reliant the people of Spain and also the people who visit Spain like us are on, I mean, we've got, We've got another five train trips booked between now and December 28th when we leave. I mean, when Soph left at the end of our six weeks when we're all here together, me and Jim jumped on the train to Madrid, went through Toledo, had a couple of great nights there. When Jim left after his Contiki tour, I went up on the train to Madrid, saw him there, caught the train back the next day. Like, it's such a great, great, great way to travel. Like, it's so nice. It's comfortable. The seats are... nice and spread out. Like everyone has access to it. It's affordable. It's convivial. But the system is under so much pressure. And, you know, there's been too much of this. And it's almost a bit like the Costa Concordia where it sounds like people are going to go to jail over this, I think. Yeah. Like what happened today was an avoidable thing. mass cock up and people are going to really be sent to the wall by it because you know in Spain people are just so distressed about it it's just terrible yeah just awful.
00:07:35
Speaker 1: Nice to hear your voice mate a few texts that are saying the same thing as well it's just no.
00:07:41
Speaker 2: Great great to hear your voices too and as much as much as we are having fun yeah no we are we're loving it I mean you know even talking about things like going to soccer practice tonight with the kids you know life sort of Weirdly enough, it's sort of taken on a bit of a normality, but equally, you know, I'll be happy to step foot back on Adelaide soil and to, you know, also step foot back on High Marsh Square soil in late January with you guys. All right.
00:08:09
Speaker 1: Well, you look after yourself, mate, and we'll see you in a few months.
00:08:12
Speaker 2: You too, guys.
00:08:12
Speaker 1: Enjoy the rest of it.
00:08:13
Speaker 2: Okay, good on you. Yeah, cheers, guys.
Speaker 1: We kind of hoped and imagined that there would be times and opportunities where we'd get to cross to our Spanish correspondent, David Penberthy, in Spain because there'd been some sort of food-related international disaster or some sort of slightly comedic international disturbance. That's not the case this morning. There is an absolute tragedy that's unfolded in that part of the world that you can hear a lot about in your news services right across the day. At least 68 people have been killed in a high-speed train crash that is the second significant train crash in quick succession in Spain. How in the hell this can happen in 2026 is anyone's guess. But let's cross to our Spanish correspondent, David Penberthy. Benbo, mate, good to chat with you.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: Good morning. Yeah, great to hear your voice, Will, and you too, Stace. It's a pretty dark old day in Spain, though. And as you rightly said, Will, in January this year, down south, not far from here in the Cadiz area, 46 people died. And this morning, this shocking collision, yet again, another high-speed collision between two of these trains that travel at extraordinary speeds. And, you know, I think the thing is, to put it in a South Australian context, train travel in Spain is not a novelty. It's not like, you know, when you're a student, you catch the overland in Melbourne with some mates or maybe you use the overland occasionally if you're a pensioner. It's not like going on a trip of a lifetime on the Gann or something. Train travel is the way people get around here. Millions and millions of people use the trains. And it's totally shocked Spain to the core. Like we were at soccer training tonight with the kids and it was the only thing parents were talking about. There was one couple we spoke to who were going to go to Barcelona next week on the train. They've cancelled it. They're going to fly instead. And, you know, the country is so train dependent because there's, There's so many cities that aren't sort of far enough where you need to fly, meaning that there's not a sort of very well-connected domestic airline service like we've got in Australia. So, you know, the routes that we're talking about, these are routes that the town of Toledo, which is the former capital of Spain where the collusion occurred– I've been through there since we've been here. In the short time we've been here, we would have been on like 15 train trips. We're meant to be going on a train trip next Friday. And it's just the way you get around. Like it's not a unique thing. Like everybody catches the train.
00:02:50
Speaker 1: We're watching on the live stream at the moment. They're high quality trains, aren't they? For people that try to picture in their head, these are pretty sophisticated pieces of technology.
00:02:58
Speaker 2: This is sort of Japan level sort of stuff. Like the physics of these trains, the first time I caught one, I was just marvelling at the shape of it because they travel so fast. They reach speeds of up to 300 kilometres an hour and they're also 150 metres long. So when you arrive at the train station to board the train, you're sort of looking down the platform and you can't even see the end of the train. They're that long. And they've got these incredible sort of– aerodynamic noses. They almost look like a basking shark. They've got this flat, low, sort of 20-degree angle nose on them because they travel so fast. And this is where the physics of what happened this morning are so horrible because... So, in a nutshell, what happened, there were two trains, both left Madrid, both heading to Seville. The first train left at 7.54am. It was a privately operated train.
00:04:02
Speaker 2: Owned by an Italian company called Irio. So that train left Madrid at 7.54. At 8am, the Spanish state-owned Renfe train left for Seville, travelling behind the Irio train. Now, for some reason, there was a signal failure, and the Italian train stopped. And Back in Atocha, which is the main railway station in Madrid, it sounds like there was some sort of cock up there in the control room where they didn't realise that the Italian train had stopped and they said to the Renfe train, no, no, it's all clear, you keep going and go as fast as you want because this is how the trains get you from A to B in record time. So this train was probably doing between, It was probably doing at least 200 kilometres an hour. Gee. And collectively, we're talking about more than 500 passengers on these two trains. And it just went straight up the backside of the other train. Oh. It's just shocking. And the scale of it is such that collectively, from those poor 500 soldiers on the train, you know, we're talking now about with 68– confirmed deaths, another 150 in hospital, and at least 15 of them touch and go critical, you know, every fifth person who was on the train is either dead or is going to suffer life-altering injuries. So just a shocking, shocking debacle. And, you know, hot on the heels of what happened in January, people are really sort of scratching their heads about, A, the management of it, B, the fact that as Spain becomes such an increasingly visited country, the number of trains using the same system has grown so much. You know, you've got not just Irio, but you've got a French company called Wego, which I've travelled on as well. They're all using the same network. And, you know, given how reliant the people of Spain and also the people who visit Spain like us are on, I mean, we've got, We've got another five train trips booked between now and December 28th when we leave. I mean, when Soph left at the end of our six weeks when we're all here together, me and Jim jumped on the train to Madrid, went through Toledo, had a couple of great nights there. When Jim left after his Contiki tour, I went up on the train to Madrid, saw him there, caught the train back the next day. Like, it's such a great, great, great way to travel. Like, it's so nice. It's comfortable. The seats are... nice and spread out. Like everyone has access to it. It's affordable. It's convivial. But the system is under so much pressure. And, you know, there's been too much of this. And it's almost a bit like the Costa Concordia where it sounds like people are going to go to jail over this, I think. Yeah. Like what happened today was an avoidable thing. mass cock up and people are going to really be sent to the wall by it because you know in Spain people are just so distressed about it it's just terrible yeah just awful.
00:07:35
Speaker 1: Nice to hear your voice mate a few texts that are saying the same thing as well it's just no.
00:07:41
Speaker 2: Great great to hear your voices too and as much as much as we are having fun yeah no we are we're loving it I mean you know even talking about things like going to soccer practice tonight with the kids you know life sort of Weirdly enough, it's sort of taken on a bit of a normality, but equally, you know, I'll be happy to step foot back on Adelaide soil and to, you know, also step foot back on High Marsh Square soil in late January with you guys. All right.
00:08:09
Speaker 1: Well, you look after yourself, mate, and we'll see you in a few months.
00:08:12
Speaker 2: You too, guys.
00:08:12
Speaker 1: Enjoy the rest of it.
00:08:13
Speaker 2: Okay, good on you. Yeah, cheers, guys.
