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In the days after the deadly train derailment near Adamuz, many people across Spain have been rethinking how safe they feel when travelling by rail.

 

A new survey by DYM, a Spanish research company that specialises in social and political opinion polling, suggests that while trains are still trusted by many, confidence has clearly been dented.

 

According to the survey, around half of respondents continue to see trains as a safe way to travel, despite recent accidents and ongoing disruption on several high-speed routes. However, more than a third, 34.9%, now say they feel less confident about taking the train, while 13.6% were unsure or did not give an answer.

 

One of the strongest messages from the results is just how closely people have been following the news.

 

The survey was carried out on January 23 and 24, only a few days after the tragedy in Córdoba province and another serious rail incident in Catalonia. More than 83% of those questioned said they had followed reports about the crash “a lot” or “quite a bit”, while only a very small minority said they were hardly interested at all.

 

As one respondent put it, “When something like this happens, everyone pays attention. You start thinking about your own journeys and whether everything is really as safe as it should be.”

 

Views on safety also vary widely across the population. In some groups, around seven in ten people said they still feel comfortable travelling by train. In others, opinions were far more divided, with similar numbers saying they felt safe and unsafe. In the most sceptical groups, nearly half said they no longer feel confident about rail travel, and only around three in ten said they have no concerns about using services operated by Renfe, Ouigo or Iryo.

 

 

Concerns are not just about individual journeys, but about the system as a whole. Two out of three people surveyed believe that Spain’s rail infrastructure is not properly prepared for the volume of traffic it currently carries. Even among those who were more positive, only a minority felt that the network is fully ready to handle the number of trains now in service.

 

In simple terms, many people feel that the growth in rail services has outpaced the ability of the infrastructure to cope, and that more work is needed to bring tracks and systems up to the level required.

 

 

The accident near Adamuz, which happened on Friday January 18 and later saw the death toll rise to 45, remains central to how people now judge rail safety (Jan 18 original crash article; subsequent death toll update).

 

At the same time, efforts are under way to restore normal services on one of the country’s most important routes. Judicial approval has now been granted for urgent repair work on the damaged section of track, with the aim of reopening the full Madrid to Andalucía high-speed line around Friday February 6 (Madrid–Andalucía line reopening article).

 

For many passengers, that reopening will be a welcome step, especially after weeks of disruption and replacement bus services. But the survey suggests that what people really want is reassurance that the entire network is being properly maintained, not just the stretch of line affected by the crash.

 

As one person summed it up, “Getting the trains running again is important, but people also want to know that the system is ready for the number of services it’s carrying, and that safety is not being pushed to the limit.”

 

 

Image: wikicommons