The European Public Prosecutor's Office has opened a second investigation into possible fraud involving European Union funds for Spain's Madrid-Seville high-speed railway, after a crash on the line killed 69 people last month.

The EPPO said on Friday 6 November that its Madrid office was carrying out investigative measures at the railway infrastructure manager Adif, the State Railway Safety Agency and Spain's Court of Auditors. The inquiry was opened on the prosecutor's own initiative, with support from the Guardia Civil's Central Operational Unit.

Focus on safety funding

The new case concerns EU funds allocated to renovating and upgrading safety, signalling and communications systems on the Madrid-Seville line. It follows the collision near Urda, in the province of Toledo, on 28 October, in which 69 people were killed and about 180 were injured.

Investigators are examining how the money was used, but the EPPO has not said which contracts are under scrutiny or whether any irregularity has been found. It confirmed the investigation only because of strong public interest and said no further details would be released for now.

A second inquiry this year

This is the second EPPO investigation into the same line in 2026. The first was opened in March and concerned EU funds for maintenance near Adamuz, in Cordoba province, after a derailment there in January killed 46 people.

The two crashes, nine months apart, have claimed 115 lives and placed intense pressure on Spain's rail authorities. The fraud inquiry runs separately from the technical investigation into what caused the Urda crash, and no link between funding and the accident has been established.

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