Turn in the trial for the Alvia train accident in which in July 2013 80 people died and 144 were injured. This Tuesday, after the declaration phase of the criminal and civil proceedings, the documentary and conclusions process began and the prosecutor, Mario Piñeiroannounced that it withdraws the accusation against the former director of Adif Traffic Safety, Andrés Cortabitartecharged with 80 crimes of homicide and 145 injuries due to serious professional negligence and one for damages.
The Prosecutor’s Office, with this decision, only maintains its accusation against the driver of the Alvia, Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, tried for the same crimes and for whom, until now, the Public Ministry requested the same sentence. The train driver is also asked for special disqualification from the profession of railway engineer for the time of the sentence, disqualification that in the case of Cortabitarte was for the exercise of any profession that implies management, security or responsibility in railway infrastructures.
In his initial letter, Mario Piñeiro maintained that the tragic accident would not have happened if Adif and the Traffic Safety department at that time “had evaluated and managed the risk of speeding” in the section of the accident, but this Tuesday they agreed remove that allusion.
He initially maintained that Cortabitarte “infringed the duty that he held due to his status within Adif, as the head of said management, which had the duty to manage and mitigate the risks of speeding not covered by the protection system of the line itself. and the train”. However, he now concludes that “he did not infringe the duty he held as head of the service and acted in accordance with the procedures included in the management system approved by the national security authority.”
Regarding the driver, he maintains that he was traveling at 199 km/h in a section close to the vicinity of a dangerous curve, that of A Grandeira, when he answered a call to the corporate mobile phone, which does not have a hands-free system, made by the intervener, speaking for 100 seconds. In responding, he “omitted the minimum attention to his professional duties” and at that time he broke “the minimum rules of attention and professionals that are required of him.” When he finally reacted, he managed to slow down to 179.38 km/h, but it was insufficient to prevent the train from derailing.